Dragon Lords 2: Ice & Madness
by damon blade
Summary: Part 2 of Rise of the Dragon Lords: with his friends they must face the forces of nature and monsters that the world has not seen for millennium, to add to Harry’s problems he has a time limit, there is only four months to the birth of his first chil
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I only own the OC's and none of the characters from Harry Potter, if I did then Tonks would have stayed alive at the end of DH and Harry would have ended up with Hermione or Tonks and not Ginny.

A/N: A single spot light came down onto a stage as Damon Blade walked out dressed in his all black suit and hat that covers one eye, pushing a button as he goes on a remote in hand a sheet of reinforced glass sliding between him and the crowed of waiting readers and fans making sure nothing happens to him for the long wait of this story.

Hello and welcome all to Part two of Dragon Lords: Ice and Madness it is finally ready for posting and I got the first chapter off to my beta and gotten it back the other day as such I quickly did a look through this morning and posted it right away, now I hope this story lives up the first one and that you all enjoy it and do leave reviews.

Start to walk off the stage Damon Blade only lowering the screen once he is safely from the stage and possible attacks because of the long wait.

Chapter 1: Fog

/ Telepathic /

22 June 1997 A.D. 04:50 pm

The London docks were quiet. The fog had rolled in late the previous night, thickened to the consistency of pea and ham soup and stayed. The local Hotel was also quiet with just the janitor out and about in this early hour. The sounds of cleaning came from the rooms that would, later in the day, shelter new guests.

A young man, no older than 16, was looking out at the fog choked harbor, though had anyone chanced to look into his green eyes they would have noted he was not seeing the fog, but staring off into some far distance. Sleeping in the same room was a bushy haired man who was easily the size of two men in height and potentially three men in girth, and a younger man.

Harry Potter, last of the Dragon Lords and leader of the Dragon Host, a group of people who have sworn loyalty to him, and in return he has shown them a power that had not been used for over 2000 years. He stood looking out over the fog bound harbor wondering how he was going to finish what he planed to start this day.

Green eyes saw far off into the distance, though his thoughts dwelt on the woman in the next room along the hall, asleep, carrying his unborn child.

The door opened and Minerva McGonagall entered, dressed as a Muggle that his Aunt Petunia would have termed a 'gossip friend'.

"Good morning, Professor. What are you doing up at this early hour?" Harry asked with out turning from the window, his gaze shifting to watch her reflection in the window as she approached him.

"I thought I would get an early start on things, Harry." Minerva murmured her voice low enough not to wake the others in the room, and she joined Harry at the window.

Harry nodded and returned his attention to the fog bound harbor. He could just make out the first morning workers walking through the shifting mist and the trickle of night workers making their way home to warm and dry beds.

"I know what you mean, Professor. I have been up most of the night. Voldemort decided I needed to see his charming face, but I can't see him doing that again soon. Not after what I did." Harry smiled at the thought of the look on Voldemort's face when he blasted the Dark Lord right out of his mind.

Minerva shuddered at the name but stopped just as quickly when Harry gave her a pointed look. "I take it you will be sleeping on the boat then. We need to discuss what is to be done with Tonks. Early on in the journey will not be a problem, but later… We can't very well have her having a baby while we are in the middle of nowhere."

Minerva settled into the chair near Harry. In the room next to theirs they heard the ringing of a telephone and the low murmur of voices and knew their companions were receiving their wake up calls.

Harry nodded and looked over his shoulder and a moment later the telephone began to ring. He listened for a moment, thanked the switchboard operator and hung up. Glancing at the two men slumbering peacefully Harry smiled evilly and quickly sketched a rune in mid air. A foghorn blast filled the room.

The Professor fought down a smile as Hagrid sat bolt upright, scrambling to his feet and, to Harry's disgust but not surprise, Ron merely rolled over.

"I am hoping you and Hermione could be with Tonks. I am afraid I would not be at ease without you two near her, particularly when she goes into labour."

Harry opened a case and after a moment, in which Hagrid flopped back on his bed causing an alarming chorus of creaks to come from the stressed bed, produced a piece of paper which he passed to the Professor. On examining the document Minerva discovered it to be a blank birth certificate, only the mother and father's names were filled in.

"It's a port key and it is keyed to any pains and contractions to do with birthing; a parting gift from Madam Pomfrey."

Minerva folded the port key carefully and tucked it away in her coat before looking at the somnolent Ron Weasley who was beginning to snore in a manner reminiscent of Hagrid in deep repose. Sighing the Professor produced her wand and, with a deft flick of her wrist and whispered word, hit him in the face with a jet of ice cold water.

With a scream far more high pitched than Harry would have thought Ron capable of, the red head scrambled from the bed to stand dripping, ghostly pale and whimpering.

"We leave in two hours, Mr. Weasley, with or without you. I suggest you remain out of bed and prepare yourself for the day." rising the Professor nodded to Hagrid amicably and the hairy gamekeeper of Hogwarts hastened to the bathroom.

Harry cast a rune to repair the bed as the professor cowered Ron with one of her polished glares and with a nod to Harry she departed. In her wake the red head looked to Harry and shuddered.

"Bloody scary. More scary now than at Hogwarts!" Ron muttered.

As Minerva closed the door behind her she noted Holly and her daughter were up and ready for travelling and Tonks was just emerging from her room. The four women greeted each other quietly and gathered together in a little huddle in the centre of the hall.

"Good morning all. Are we breakfasting downstairs or waiting for the ship to depart the harbor?" she asked, smiling at the three younger women.

Tonks looked up from rubbing at her rounded middle. Only the group could see her rounded belly, a charm had been cast on her to hide the fact she was pregnant from any possible spies who might notice them.

"Do you think you're denying me food while I'm like this?" Tonks grinned and there was an evil glint to her eyes. "I'll take both the breakfast here and one later on the ship."

Looking for the first of said breakfasts Tonks moved off down the hall, nodding amicably to Molly, who was just leaving the room she had shared with her daughter, Minerva and Silvenestri.

Holly gave a snorted laugh at the comment and looked at Minerva. "She went most of the night with out food, as we wouldn't open the cooler or the mini bar."

The professor laughed, a short explosive sound, as Hermione shook her head and hurried to follow Tonks, not wanting her out of her sight. Hermione, they had all noticed, always remained close to Tonks, who was carrying not only her best friend's child, but her future godchild too.

Arutha walked out of the suite he had shared with his family and Tonks during the night, looking very much as though he had not slept at all.

"Any idea if this boat has nice soft beds in enough cabins to ensure no pregnant women are within three rooms of you?" He asks, a massive yawn silencing him.

Molly walked over to join them and they all had a quiet snicker at his expense. Holly took his arm gently and began to lead him down the hall, promising him coffee and that she would see to it Tonks was in Harry's care for the next sleepless night.

"Minerva, are you sure it's wise to have Tonks accompany us? I mean, she isn't going to be able to move quickly soon, and from what I could tell we are likely to need speed in this endeavour, if we intend to get the kids back in time for school?" Molly queried as she walked beside Minerva toward the elevator.

"It'll be alright, Molly. Harry and his inner circle are already more than skilled in N.E.W.T, level classes and Ron can catch up if he decides to knuckle down and do the work when we get back. As to the matter of Tonks… I had a few words with Harry just a few minutes ago and learned Harry has seen to a portkey for her when the baby comes. Now don't worry and just enjoy the trip, I know I am going to." Minerva reached the elevator first and hit the call button.

Before the elevator arrived, Harry, Silvenestri and Hagrid joined them, Harry muttering about red haired boys that needed to learn how to brew waking potions if he was going to be like this every morning and about how, when he was that age, he had been up at the crack of, if not before, dawn.

Minerva wore an amused smirk as, though he did not look it, she knew full well Harry was a good seven years older than Ron. It was almost a year now since Harry had cast the spell which had stripped seven years of growth from him.

Molly looked at Harry and rolled her eyes "You just have to know how to wake him up, Harry dear. I'll get him; and Ginny as well while I'm at it. I will meet you all down in the lobby."

Molly made her way back down the hall toward their rooms and there was a determined, no nonsense air to her walk that left Harry in no doubt Ron would be awake in no time.

The lobby was quite at this time of the morning and Tonks could be seen sitting in the small restaurant attached to the lobby. She sat at the small cluster of tables they had designated their meeting area the night before, a cup of tea in one hand and a slice of toast in the other. Harry decided she must have stolen the slice of toast from the kitchen as the eating area was supposed to be closed at the moment. Beside her Hermione was sipping coffee, her hands wrapped around the cup to make use of the heat.

Silvenestri, her silver blonde curls bouncing merrily about her, skipped forward and, to Holly and Minerva's shock, calmly took the toast from Tonks' hand and ate it right in front of her.

"That child has a death wish. You never touch a pregnant woman's food." Holly whispered, aghast as she watched Tonks level a hard look at the child.

Harry laughed softly and joined the two women in watching the child and pregnant woman.

"Silvenestri is more then capable of fighting off Tonks. If anything, it will be a challenge to Tonks to try and out eat her."

Leaving the older women Harry joined Tonks and kissed her gently and whispered his challenge.

"I am wondering who will win at out eating who on the boat, you or the little dragon?"

Holly looked at Harry in confusion and looked to Minerva for an answer, but the professor merely smiled and led the way over to some chairs at the adjacent table, Arutha joining them there.

"I see you have not been told that Silvenestri is not really human. She is, in fact, about as far from being human as you can get. Silvenestri, Holly, is actually a Greater Dragon, the only known Greater Dragon in existence from what we can tell. Harry hasn't been able to detect any others, and he has tried repeatedly"

Holly looked shocked and half turned to study the little girl who was now running around a low table, laughing as Tonks was hot on her heels and all the while cursing at her for stealing her food out from under her nose. She assured Silvenestri that Harry wasn't going to save her this time.

"But she looks so normal! And the way she is acting at the moment, she's like a little annoying sister to Tonks. I should know, I was an annoying little sister. How can she be a dragon? I have read some of Hermione's books and all of the authors agree that Dragons are dangerous and shouldn't be approached at all costs."

Minerva nodded. "The books are written about the modern Dragons, not the ancient Greater Dragon species. By Dragon years yes, Silvenestri is young, only six years of age. In another five to six years she will be more than likely more intelligent than all of us put together. She is already incredibly quick, reading books with incredible speed and retaining all of the information. She has intelligence far greater than our own, she merely lacks the knowledge to exercise it; and of course her emotions are, at present, those of a young child. She will out live all of us except for Harry, who is her Rider."

Holly looked, if anything, more confused, particularly at the last comment and was about to say something when Molly joined them with the last of their group, almost dragging Ron behind her.

"What did I miss?" the Weasley matron was looking at Tonks who had pinned Silvenestri in a corner, and at Harry and Hermione who were watching with huge smiles.

"Just Silvenestri being a little sister." Minerva murmured, motioning to the group. "She was teasing Tonks and stealing her food."

Silvenestri squealed as Tonks lunged forward and commenced her attack, tickling the little girl with a wild laugh.

Holly laughed herself, finding it practically impossible to believe the little girl who was trying to break free of Tonks' hold was really a dragon of great power. Turning her attention back to the Professor she questioned her on what she had been told.

"What do you mean; Harry will be the only one to live as long as she will? And what was that about him being her rider?"

Minerva sighed and after making sure no other Muggles were around she made a few cups of tea with a wave of her wand.

"Harry is, and more than likely will be, the last true Dragon Lord of this world. If there were other Greater Dragons to be found in this day and age, any of his children who could bond with them won't be as well trained as he is. His training wasn't completed and he does not know all that a Dragon Rider would have known. You see, Harry found a spell and being the brilliant young man that he is, he cast it. He ended up in 500 BC, or close to that time from what we have theorized. While there he chanced to find a Dragon Lord and his female Greater Dragon. The Lord trained him after he promised Silvenestri's mother he would look after the unhatched dragon."

Minerva paused and looked over to see Harry pull Tonks back to sit next to him, both of the young people clearly enjoying being with each other. They were all aware of the time and how long it would be before they must leave.

"A few years later, not long after Silvenestri turned five, they closed the only known gate to Death's realm and Harry returned to this time, with Silvenestri. Dragon Lords were a power unto themselves and in the past the Ministry was only just starting to come into control of the world. They saw the Dragon Lords as an un-controllable element, totally unable to fit in with their new ideals of how the world should be structured. They ordered their wizards to hunt down and kill all Dragon Lords and the detaining of all female Metamorphmagus, as a Dragon Lord could only have children with them. Before you ask, I don't know why, Harry has not explained as yet. What he has said is that he will live as long as Silvenestri lives, and vice versa, so Harry has a good thousand years of living ahead of him, if not longer, provided Silvenestri dies a natural death."

"Oh my, how sad." Holly looked at the carefree young man kissing Tonks. "That means he will have to watch as all of his friends, and even his lover, die. He will have to watch them slowly die of old age right before his eyes. It will break his heart."

"He knows, Holly. That is why he seems so care free now. He is living life to the fullest with his friends and loved ones, but they and Tonks will be with him in this world for a good number of years yet. Also, as Metamorphmagus live, on average, for five hundred years, it is not so bad for them."

Minerva rose and nodded, signaling it was time they moved and Harry rose too. Hagrid appeared with a large box in hand, the sea chest containing everything they had brought with them yesterday, thanks to a few well placed charms.

"Alright everyone. Time to go, and just a brief reminder. This is a Muggle ship, not a Wizarding world vessel. No magic is to be cast unless it's a life or death situation and Silvenestri, do keep your human form until I say otherwise." Harry looked over the gathered group.

The little silver haired girl gave Harry a look that clearly asked if he honestly thought she was an idiot, before snorting in a very draconic expression of disgust and starting towards the doors leading to the docks. Tonks and Hermione were right behind her as Harry ushered the entire group out the doors, taking one last moment for himself to impress this time on his memory.

This, he knew, was the first step on a long and hard road towards the shaping of the future of the Wizarding and Muggle worlds.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I only own the OC's and none of the characters from Harry Potter, if I did then Tonks would have stayed alive at the end of DH and Harry would have ended up with Hermione or Tonks and not Ginny.

A/N: Hey this is great two posts in one week, I'm on a roll. Anyway as you can all see the next chapter of Dragon Lords is here and ready for you all to say wither you love or hate it, hopefully the first of the two, also I would like to say sorry about the wait as my beta got swamped by her own work and only just had to the time to work on this chapter for me so sorry.

A number of you in the early chapters of the first Dragon Lords wanted to know why only a Metamorphmagus' could have a Dragon Lords child and survive, well guess what people that is answered in this chapter and I'm sure I'll get a lot of new questions… the joy of being an writer I suppose. Anyway enjoy and welcome to chapter 2 of Dragon Lords Ice and Madness.

Chapter 2: Sisterhood.

/ Telepathic /

22 June 1997A.D. 08:00 AM

Holly Granger stood on the upper deck, looking out over the bow of the ship. They had boarded the ship without incident and after being shown to their cabins she had to admit taking a cruise in the finest cabins was her idea of a good time. It was a pity it would not be a holiday, but as the precursor to an adventure is was a good beginning.

A flash of silver brought her attraction from the sea to the lower deck. Harry stood at the bow, his back ramrod straight as he watched the sea. Silvenestri stood at his side, the Dragon child, her back to the view, was staring up at Holly on the upper deck.

"I still can't believe she is a dragon, but I can't deny there is something about her that just doesn't feel human." Holly watched as the child turned to look out over the water.

"You have no idea, Mum," Hermione joined her mother on the deck in time to hear the comment, "Just be thankful you haven't seen her eat in her dragon form. I always feel like throwing up."

Hermione looked down; watching her friends on the lower deck and thinking it would be interesting when Silvenestri was allowed to hunt in her true form again. She could not stay the little girl she appeared to be at the moment, the dragon would have its way eventually.

"She can't be that bad can she?" Holly frowned watching the silver haired child who was speaking to Harry.

The young man nodded and Silvenestri skipped off, leaving the deck to Harry and his perch at the bow, sea watching. Holly was fairly sure Harry would have a distant, distracted look on his face though.

Tonks snorted as she joined Hermione and Holly on the deck, one hand resting on her rounding middle and the other holding a cup of coffee.

"You think? I'm only just starting to get use to her bringing in her kills. She starts by licking the corpse… all over… grumbling and crooning like a love sick puppy, and then she opens a wound in the neck and proceeds to suck the blood out. Do you want me to tell you what she does when she starts tearing chunks off?"

Holly stared at her for a long moment, lips pursed. "I don't know whether to thank you for the warning or not at the moment… Somehow I think the mental vision is bad enough without seeing the real thing. How is the baby this morning?"

Holly led the way to the deck chairs lined up a little from their position and all three women settled in to enjoy the morning breeze gently beginning to pick up.

"Thankfully taking five after using my insides as a football field all night." Tonks smiled, bring her hand away from her middle to rest on the table beside her seat.

Holly had to smile, it was clear the young woman really did love the idea of carrying the child of the man she loved above all others. Tonks was quite happy with the situation.

"You know there are various potions you can try that can help with those sorts of problems Ms Tonks." Minerva spoke from where she stood in the doorway leading into the cabins. After surveying the scene she walked over to join them with a rare smile. "So what are we talking about this very fine day, Ladies? All of the boys are off else where, and Molly and Ginny are having a little mother/daughter time."

"I wish I could use the potions, Professor, but according to Harry this child's magic is already awake and flowing through me. It means if I take a potion to help calm her down, I'll get the effects as well. It is also likely that, as she is feeding off my magic while in the womb, that any effect the potion might have would be negated." Tonks sighed and pouted a little, tapping her cup with her wand to refill it before leaning back more comfortably.

"That might be why only a Metamorphmagus can survive the childbirth. The magical backlash while giving birth could kill the mother and child, if the mother was not of such a highly magical nature. In some cases a child's magic awakens a few months after birth, not while still in the womb; and in most cases it is a few years after birth." Hermione leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands, her elbows propped up on her knees, deep in thought.

"Highly possible." Tonks agreed and the Professor nodded.

"Sorry Sweetie, but I'm afraid you lost me. As I recall a few odd occurrences happened when you were around four months old, but nothing after that for a few years. How would that be any different for Tonks?" Holly looked enquiringly at Minerva and mouthed 'drinks?', gesturing to the table.

"You see, Mum, all witches and wizards have a magical core within themselves. This core is always putting out a low pulse of magic, but a Metamorphmagus' magic is different. It is always generating a much stronger pulse and the theory is that is why they can change their body forms, both male and female."

Hermione paused as three cups of steaming hot tea appeared and she claimed one, sipping appreciatively of the aromatic brew. "Lovely tea. A Dragon Lord's magic would have to be akin to that of a Metamorphmagus and would also generate a stronger pulse than that of a standard witch or wizard. It might even be stronger than that of a Metamorphmagus."

The Professor nodded her agreement. "You have, as always, pursued your research in detail, Miss Granger."

With a bright smile at the praise Hermione looked back to her mother. "Here is where it gets harder to explain. Normally a magically sensitive baby won't put out any magic while within their mother's womb. This is because the magical links form a bond between them and when the child is born that link from the baby has the chance of ripping the mother's magic to shreds. This has the potential to severely damage the mother, even kill her, and potentially the child. There is another theory that suggests there is the chance the two magical cores can cancel each other, or one or the other, out. That is associated with one of the theories of why Squibs are born within magical families."

Holly considered the lecture as she sipped her tea and finally nodded, understanding a little more now of the intricacies involved. She sincerely hoped nothing of the sort would happen to the young woman seated next to her. She was starting to like the flamboyant Metamorphmagus. Tonks smiled at her in silent assurance that she was planning on living for many years to come and enjoy raising a very magical child.

"From what Tonks has said, a Dragon Lord's child is magically aware within the womb from the moment the brain develops sufficiently to produce the necessary magical receptors. This means it is unavoidable that some form of magical bonding will occur between the mother's magical core and the infants. A Metamorphmagus' magical pulse being so much stronger would mean the child feeds on that strength and not her own magical core, as would be likely to happen in a normal bonding. It would mean that after giving birth Tonks won't be able to shift forms for a few weeks; it will take that long for her magical centre to revert to normal. Other than that small complication, mother and baby should do just fine." Hermione concluded, rather proud of herself for having looked into all of the implications of the unusual pregnancy.

"Very good. I have been waiting for one of you to reveal that you have worked out why only a Metamorphmagus has survived the birth of a Dragon Lord's child." Silvenestri slipped up to the group, clutching to her chest a large black leather bound book.

Hermione sat straighter, her interest piqued. The edges of the pages showed a deep yellow colour and she thought it might be hide, not paper, possibly vellum, and ancient vellum at that. It held as much colour, if not more, than the oldest books held within the Hogwarts library.

"How long have you been there young lady?" Minerva watched the silver haired child who smiled wickedly and placed the book on the table.

"Long enough, Professor. I thought you might like to learn more about the Harry of the past, back before he met me. I do ask that you do not reveal where you got the journal from."

"Journal… his diary?" Hermione whispered, leaning forward eagerly.

"From his days as a mercenary," Silvenestri removed her hands from the book slowly. "You might like to write it down in Lily's diary. She should know what he lived through." Silvenestri considered the group with eyes that belied her apparent age before quietly walking away, leaving them staring at the book.

She had her own agenda and it did not necessarily coincide with her riders. Sometimes Riders could be so pathetically human and rather petty, and their dragon needed to take matters in hand. Wishing for a hunt in the Forbidden Forest to sate her growing restlessness, and they had only just begun the journey, the dragon decided to hunt out the boys and ensured they behaved. She might even find a thing or two to add to her growing horde within her hidden lair in the Forbidden Forest.

They stared at the old book, none quite willing to touch the likely priceless item; it was a certainty that Harry would not be happy if they read it but… curiosity to peek at just an entry or two surely could be indulged?

Holly, however, was looking a little confused, "Write it in Lily Potter's diary?"

Tonks smiled and rose to her feet. "Wait a few minutes, please. I'll be right back."

Moving as quickly as she could without attracting attention Tonks made her way to the room she shared with Harry and located the backpack Harry had brought with him. It was only a matter of a few minutes before she located the red leather diary and she returned to the others, placing the diary on the unopened ancient journal.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet Lily Potter's memories," Tonks murmured, opening the diary and with a flick of her wand producing a self inking quill. Bending forward she quickly wrote a greeting on the page and as her friends watched the ink disappeared. After a moment a longer line of writing faded into view, pale at first and then growing stronger and easier to read, like fresh ink.

'_Tonks! How on earth did you manage to get this book from Harry? And what do you mean, you are not alone with me?_' was written across the page.

At the sharply indrawn breaths from her companions Tonks smiled and leaned forward to write once again.

'_I have with me both of the Granger women and Professor McGonagall, whom I am sure you will recall from Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm sure Harry will forgive me, eventually, but Silvenestri thought you should share in the little gift she brought us. I have in my possession Harry's diary from when he was a mercenary in the past.' _

The writing faded into the page and the watchers held their breaths until words began to appear again.

'_Minerva still hasn't taken on the Headmaster's position at Hogwarts? Damn, I was hoping to become the deputy head under her by now. I know of Hermione Granger, but who would be this other Granger who knows about magic?_'

Tonks looked at Holly and at her nod handed over the quill.

'_That would be me, Holly Granger. I am Hermione's mother and it is nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter. I must say Harry is a fine young man, though," _Holly grinned wickedly at Tonks before returning to her writing._ ' I think he could have done with the' talk' a few months ago._'

'_(Snicker_) _He did get the talk I believe, though how much attention he paid is another matter entirely. I believe the excuse is that his magical core flared, or something to that effect, overpowering the potion or spell the two of them where using… either that or the potion wasn't as strong as it should have been, which if Severus made it, I can not believe_.' Lily's reply seemed thoughtful, contemplative.

Tonks nodded and was about to comment to the gathered women when she grunted and pressed a hand to her rounded abdomen. "Junior is awake."

Hermione grinned while the older women chuckled as Holly wrote in the diary that Lily's grandchild was using her mother as an arena in which to practice her ballet.

'_Tonks, dear,_ _try some breathing exercises and think calming thoughts. That helped with Harry._'

Tonks read the reply and, willing to try anything, sat back and worked at regulating her breathing and thinking positive and soothing thoughts at her daughter. It even appeared to work as the baby calmed down a little.

Minerva, after magicing into existence a cup of soothing tea, picked up the old tome opening it with care to see the words on the pages were very faint and that the pages themselves were magically created, and the ancient magic was the only thing holding it together.

"My word, if we needed proof of Harry's trip back in time, other than the little silver dragon, then this is it. Some of the entries are almost completely faded, even with the magic preserving them. It should long ago have turned to dust."

Looking at Tonks, who now held the diary and quill and was prepared to write the words as they were read into the much younger diary, the Professor flicked her wand at the quill, which smartly sprang out of Tonks' hand and stood at attention over the open diary.

"It will be a lot quicker, and easier on you, if the quill writes the story, I believe."

00000000000000000000000000000000000

_Flash back_

(A/N: For ease of writing the log entries are going to be flash back format, not as if Harry was writing in the journal as Tonks and the others are reading it.)

Harry regarded the small village surrounded by its massive defensive ditch in what he determined would someday become the Highland Forests of southern Scotland. It had taken him a week after leaving his master Adinirahc's cave to reach this point in what he thought might, one day in the far future, be in the general vicinity of where Hadrian constructs his massive defensive wall.

"Note to self. When, and if, I make it back to my own time, I need to pay more attention to history class… or do my own research so that I don't fall asleep in class and I particularly must remember not to tell the professors they got it wrong." Harry muttered before adjusting his cloak and starting toward the small cluster of round houses, keeping his head lowered and out of plain sight.

Entering the village proved not to be a problem, though he was thoroughly inspected by the local warriors though they did not question the new arrival. A few of the villages present, mostly women and children busy preparing meals, did mark his presence and watch him warily. It was apparent he did not have trade goods to interest them and his style of dress hardly suggested he had wealth.

Pausing before the largest building in the enclosure Harry pulled a small pouch from his belt and looked inside to see only a few coins and he was uncertain of the local currency. The barter system was the way to go at this time of civilization, though there was a little coinage brought in from the more civilized countries off the future Britain's shores. He had little to barter with, meaning he either had to get a job of some kind or take up a life of thievery.

The local chieftain would certainly frown on the latter option.

He considered approaching the chieftain's hut and claiming a meal, something that could be a prickly affair if there chanced to be trouble in the local community. The lack of warriors in evidence about the settlement suggested the Chieftain was absent and his household staff might not be too forthcoming without their lord in attendance. Meetings were always chancy, he had been told by his master, with the inhabitants and should he note an abundance of blue paint decorating the warriors it would be prudent to think twice about approaching them.

Not that he did not think he could best them, but it was best to avoid trouble in Harry's view. What would happen if he happened to accidently kill someone who would have been his ancestor? Or the ancestor of someone he knew, like the Weasley's?

"Not that dying of hunger is an option either."

He noted the local warriors were watching him with a shade more interest than he liked; his prevarication was attracting the sort of attention he did not want. Making up his mind to the inevitable he took a step toward the largest building, knowing it would be the status structure, the local King or Chieftain's home and probably a meeting centre as well, he paused at a shout from behind him.

Turning he noted a child running excitedly into the enclosure. In seconds the women and children were running toward them, smiling and chattering amongst themselves and the warriors smartly moved past Harry, leaning on spears but relaxed. Thinking the Chieftain was arriving he was surprised to see what he assumed to be a small trading group. The hide packs on the men's broad backs would carry their trade goods and two battered carts pulled, not by an animal but by three men leaning into the traces.

The traders gathered in the centre of the enclosure and within seconds it was apparent it was no trade meeting between traveling traders and settlers. Injured men were taken from the cart, bleeding and poorly bandaged and the village became a hive of activity. Harry took the opportunity to mix with the group and assist in caring for the men, taking the chance to listen closely to the conversations and discover what had happened.

The leader of the group, who certainly did look to be a merchant and to not have managed any hard labor in his life before today, maintained a firm control of his people, issuing concise orders to those still capable of movement and speaking to the warriors in attendance of the village.

As the village women tended to the wounds some brought out food and drink and Harry was quick to take a share, entertaining a brief moment of amusement at the thought of how picky his classmates would have been should they have been offered this menu. As the cuisine of the time went, this was wholesome and relatively filling; Harry had certainly eaten worse during his time in the past.

There were dead in the second of the carts and the local warriors ordered the bodies removed from the enclosure. From their expressions Harry gathered that something about the bodies disturbed them and he noted they cast glances at the lead merchant which were not so friendly as they might have been.

"There is a problem?" He chanced to approach one of the warriors, an older grey bearded man who maintained order amongst his younger contemporaries with a firm hand and firmer voice.

"That one came through not two full sunrises ago, claiming he knew of a dragon's horde in the highlands. The beast was old and clumsy, he said and unable to protect its horde. He boasted of the riches he would bring back and to be sure, he had ten carts with him when he left with our Chief's warning to say away from the Red and not to rile the creature up. We do not need angry dragons killing our livestock and our people."

Ten carts, Harry mused, and eyed the two battered vehicles now remaining to the merchant.

"As expected, the Red was more able than he thought." Another of the guards spoke up. "Leave us to deal with an angry dragon, that's what he's done. He wants the King to provide him an escort of warriors to his marshy home far to the south."

Indeed, Harry could hear the man roaring for the local and very absent King. The warriors turned aside from him, permitting the women to care for the injured but none of them paying much mind to the ranting of the merchant.

"The Chieftain will need all of his warriors to deal with the beast if it comes down from the highlands." The old warrior growled.

"Are there any who would go with him?" Harry queried.

The old warrior eyed the younger man for a long moment. "You do not live here; you are free to do as you please, as are those two over there. Passing through they were, as you are."

Harry had no particular desire to deal with an irate dragon, if the merchant had riled the creature sufficiently for it to take vengeance on all others in it's lairs vicinity. He was at loose ends, alone and without a means to make a living other than the strength of his back and his fighting prowess, all of which were thankfully unknown to these people.

'If that Dragon is upset over this attack, then I had better leave well enough alone for now. They have made no mention of a rider, a Dragon Lord with the beast. If this one is wild best not to disturb it any further than it has been already. Perhaps I might have more luck if I go south, toward London… or where London will be. That might be a more productive course to take.'

Harry inclined his head to the warrior and moved away, approaching the merchant who had few takers to his offer. The local warriors knew their responsibility and would not abandon the village.

"What's the pay for guarding you and your goods?"

The merchant offered a price that was laughable, less than half of what Harry knew a paid mercenary would receive for escort duty. With a snort, and knowing he would have to play the haggling game merchants loved so well, he told the merchant to make a real offer or travel on his own.

After listening to the man for a few minutes, refusing every offer he put forward, Harry motioned around them, pointing out how few takers the man would have and making the expected boast that he was the best of them, Harry haggled the man up to a respectable price for his services. With his pay sorted Harry made his way to the wagons to find a seat and wait for the man to determine when they would be leaving and who would be in the party. As part of his pay he required the merchant to get him a decent meal and in a few minutes one of the village women brought Harry a sizeable bowl of rich venison and barley stew with bannock with which to soak up the juices.

After eating and realizing the merchant intended to set off despite the lateness of the day, no doubt to put as many leagues away from the beast as possible should it came hunting him, Harry calmly walked to the last wagon and settled on a pile of skins, watching the assortment of men as they prepared to depart.

Those who had arrived with the merchant's party looked far from happy with their employer over the loss of their friends and his insistence they keep moving. There was much swearing and cursing and in the face of the merchants anger the old warrior in charge of the settlement had to step in to break up trouble more than once.

He inspected the animal skins surrounding him, assuming the merchant was determined not to have the expedition a total loss. The skins were good quality and would lessen the loss he had made when the dragon proved to still have teeth and the will to use them. Settling himself deeper in the cart he was startled to hear a soft sound, a whimper of pain from under the furs he was leaning against.

Leaning in closer to the furs Harry listened, straining to hear above the noise of the caravan preparing to leave. The whimper came again, a little louder than before, and Harry glanced quickly around. No one appeared to be paying him the least bit of attention and a heavy bartering session appeared to be just ending between a farmer and the merchant over two old horses to pull the carts.

While the animals were hitched up Harry waited patiently, giving the impression he was half asleep and bored to tears waiting to go. Food purchased from the settlement was placed in the forward cart and a few minutes later they were moving, leaving the settlement behind and skirting the fringe of the forest.

With the escorts attention riveted on the forest and the sky above them, seeking some indication of doom on dragon wings, Harry took the chance and flipped up a couple of layers of furs. What he found both startled him and disgusted him.

Beneath the furs lay a woman with light blue skin and hair like new snow. Her skin was dark in places, showing the bruises of a beating, and from the condition of her torn and tied together hide clothing, such as it was, Harry suspected she had been raped.

'An Ice Nymph!' He had never seen one, but his master had told him of them and described them in such detail that Harry had to wonder what his dealings with them in the past had been. 'But how did this man get one?'

Harry glanced around quickly to ensure no one was watching, sliding carefully to one side to mask what he was doing. Frightened but defiant eyes glared at him and he whispered a soft 'Shh' before gently running a hand over the worst of the wounds he could see, using the little wandless magic he knew to heal her. He did not want to trust his somewhat basic knowledge of rune magic with something as delicate as this creature.

"Who are you? Are you here to have your way with my body as those animals did?"

The Nymph was weak and her ice crystal eyes widened as Harry healed her, offering no hurt as she had come to expect of her captors. He found a deep cut he had missed in her abdomen before looking around him carefully, mindful that he did not want anyone to know he had found her.

The superstitious settlers from the village they had just left would certainly have ripped the merchant's party apart had they known she was with them. Likely they would have then killed the Nymph, considering her to be some kind of evil spirit.

"I'm going to help you." Harry whispered, as the Nymph sighed with the easing of pain.

He rested his hand over the wound in her lower abdomen, calling on his magic and trying to concentrate on calming the creature, keeping a watch out and the healing magic.

"You should be alright now I've repaired what I can. Sorry, I don't dare use Rune Magic. Not the time or the place for that."

The wound closed to be little more than a scar, a deeper blue against the blue of her skin.

"You have more honour than these pigs of humans who have taken me from my master's cave. They do what they want, rut like wild bores, and when I do not respond to them they beat me."

The Nymph inclined onto her side, keeping low in the cart and beneath the furs. She regarded Harry for a long moment, wincing as the cart jolted particularly viciously.

"I am Kirenna and you… you know of Ice Nymphs and Rune Magic… Who are you, young apprentice to a Dragon Lord?"

Harry smiled and nodded briefly in greeting, sliding a little forward in the cart to give the Nymph a bit of ease from male company as she had been abused and would not like to be crowded. The driver of the cart was leading the beast hitched to it at the present time, and the ride was far from smooth as they tried to hurry over terrain little traveled and hardly fit for walking, let alone cartage.

"Harry Potter, the former apprentice to Adinirahc Copperspear."

Kirenna nodded, acknowledging she knew the name if not the man. "I know of this man Adinirahc Copperspear. He would come and spar with my master, Lokken of the Crimson Blade, but he has not come for many winters. I was a child of some eight winters when last he came."

She paused drawing a sharp breath of discomfort as the cart jarred particularly badly and Harry reached forward slowly, waiting for her to give her permission before he healed the cracked rib he had missed.

"You could be no older than fifteen winters of age, so young to be put through this." Harry sat back after repairing the rib.

In his time anyone who treated a woman, let alone a young girl in this brutal fashion would be in a world of trouble, but here, in this primitive time, the men of the day pretty much did whatever they pleased with women. It was something Harry found impossible to accept and he knew he would do all that he could to ensure nothing else happened to Kirenna.

Kirenna acknowledged his estimate of her age with a brief nod. While she was only fifteen Harry saw that she had a very well developed body, with rounded full breasts and a slender curved waist. She looked fit and if she was in service to a Dragon Lord then she would have been in peak condition physically.

Kirenna looked Harry over, considering how fleeting a human life was in comparison to her own species. Even the Dragon Lords did not live so long as an Ice Nymph, whose life span humans would consider immortal. They lived for thousands of years, though the price for this near immortality was a low birthrate, perhaps one child in three or four hundred years might be born. The magic of the Nymphs differed from that of the humans, being more akin to that of the Veela.

Nymphs of all types considered the Veela to be inferior as, while both races could charm a male to come to them in order to mate, the Nymphs could go a stage further. A Veela could attract a male of a comparable species, but she could not charm him into her arms and must convince him to service her need. Of course, human males needed little convincing, she thought with a wince.

Any male charmed by a Nymph would find himself wandering a lonely road with no memory of the time spent in a Nymphs enchanting embrace. Such was the charming power of the Nymph that no convincing was required, a simple order was sufficient to have a male warm their bower.

As humans went, this one was young, virile, certainly good looking and she suspected, delightfully unattached.

Harry noticed movement in the forest at the same time as a few other guards spotted the poorly hidden raiding party. The blue woad markings was a certain sign there were no peaceful intentions in the group, and instructing the Nymph to remain in the cart Harry jumped off and strode toward the next guard ahead of him.

The word was passed quickly down the line for everyone to maintain their place and wait for the attack. When it happened it was quick but poorly organized and Harry waded into the fray with his sword drawn, lashing out and deflecting an attack at a mercenary nearest him.

He kept near the wagon, aware of Kirenna hiding there beneath the furs, bereft of the weapons of her people and unable to defend herself. He was also extremely aware that his weapon of choice, the sword, was far superior in quality than any of the other mercenaries and that he was drawing attention, but he was not about to use an inferior weapon when they were so outnumbered. It appeared their attackers might not be great strategists but they had the weight of numbers on their side.

It deteriorated into a slashfest, kill or be killed and Harry was not of a mind to fit into the 'be killed' category, though to date he did not think he had killed an opponent. He saved the life of a scarred mercenary who returned the favor a few minutes later and, almost back to back, they fought on.

A blue painted face filled his vision, the warrior screaming wildly and Harry got the impression the man was somewhat on the hysterical side. One thing he had noticed was that his opponents were all young. Harry locked blades with the man, realizing quickly that his attacker was clumsy and inexperienced with his weapon, a sword taken from one of the guards who had fallen, he thought. All of his other opponents had had short spears, which they had been much more proficient at wielding.

Ducking under a wild swing Harry took a half step forward, his sword rising in a quick slash, to slice across the man's chest, through the hide and furs wrapped around him. A spray of blood hit Harry in the face and he barely registered the jarring of his arm at the force of the blow he delivered. With the adrenaline coursing through his veins he had no time to realize he had just taken a life as he stepped over the body to help a fellow mercenary.

Barely thinking now, his attention focused on surviving, Harry allowed his training to take over. He did remain aware of the cart at all times and threw himself between the cart and an attacker who approached too closely.

From her hiding place beneath the furs Kirenna took every chance to peek and assess the fighting prowess of her new protector, as well as the mercenaries defending the group. The Dragon Lords apprentice was young, and though revealed to be inexperienced in actual conflict, he was well skilled in how to wield his weapon.

'Best to wait until we are clear of this area and perhaps are closer to wherever we are going before making my escape.' She watched as the raiders began to back into the forest, retreating from the conflict with much blowing of horns and shouting to announce their intent.

Harry, panting, looked about him as suddenly there were no more men racing toward him, screaming like banshees for his blood. The attack was over and as the adrenalin faded he became aware of the blood coating his face and clothes, running down the length of his sword and coating his hands.

He had blood on his hands. He had killed, taken a human life with his own hands… His master's voice, calm as it had always been when instructing him filled his memory, telling him that killing, as he would have to do to survive, did not make a person dark or evil. Killing to survive was not an evil deed; that was the province of those who came to enjoy the kill and thirsted for it; who allowed darkness to infiltrate their soul in the hunt for fresh blood.

After a trembling moment of wavering on the edge of hysteria Harry threw himself to his knees and lost what food remained in his stomach. He had killed, with his own hands and despite his master's words he needed to get used to that idea. The crack of a dry twig marked the measured tread of the older mercenary Harry had helped and the man, checking bodies, paused beside the now dry heaving young warrior.

"Got a soul, ye 'ave young'n. Counts in afterlife, that do. It will no get easier on yer mind, an' if it do ye best watch fer yer soul. Best if ye never take kill'n fer granted. Clean yerself up, take a seat on yonder cart and we best be out of here, not that they be back t'day."

Harry stumbled to his feet, taking deep breaths to try to settle his stomach and turned to see Kirenna tending to a wounded man. He wavered on his feet and watched as she attended to a couple of the men, noting who she ignored, despite the severity of their wounds and guessed they had had a hand in her rape or had beaten her.

Kirenna, aware that Harry had stopped throwing up, surveyed the scene, marked who remained unattended and, with a disdainful sniff stalked back to the wagon, wrapping herself in furs and fixing her gaze on Harry. When he walked over to the wagon she sniffed and wrinkled her nose.

"Wash before coming in here."

The guards who were still active were going over the bodies, allies as well as enemies, picking over the corpses for anything worth taking. Marking that he had a few minutes Harry cleaned himself off as best he could, trying not to think of the men he had killed in the fight. There was no effort made to bury the dead, the bodies being left where they fell and the carts began to move again, the men laughing about the good fight or moaning over wounds incurred.

"Your training is far from complete, but it should be enough for you to get by." Kirenna broke the silence and Harry merely nodded, unwilling to talk. "Talk to me. You will fell better for it."

Taking a deep breath Harry leaned heavily against the cart's side, considering his own fate and then the fate of the Nymph. She was likely taken to be a slave, though if the Merchant could not find anyone who would not consider her to be an evil woods spirit who would murder them in their sleep, or bring misfortune upon them, her fate would likely be rape and then to be murdered.

"How much do you think the merchant is going to sell you for?"

"A small fortune, if anyone knows the worth of my kind, or a knife in the back if they do not. Planning on bidding for me?"

Kirenna glared then looked away, wondering if she had read the Dragon Lord's apprentice wrong. Given the opportunity most men would simply rape her, not waiting to own her, but she had hoped for more from this one. She had hoped for escape.

"I was hoping to pay for your freedom and then move on, off this island."

His master had warned him Ice Nymphs could be prickly in temper, and he supposed he could have phrased his words with a little more care, but all he could see was men dying at his hands.

End flashback

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Tonks closed the book, clenching her fingers into fists, trembling slightly. The scratching of the quill in the diary lasted for a few seconds longer and the weight of the book in her hands seemed dreadfully heavy. She had spelled Minerva, taking over the reading of the tome to rest the Professor's voice.

Around her no one broke the silence, no doubt all of the women were thinking over what they had heard. Hermione was fascinated with the little information Harry had included on the Ice Nymphs and the Veela, wondering if there was the possibility Kirenna might not still be alive, hidden away in some pocket of magically protected safety.

Holly stirred finally, reaching to take the book from Tonks and finding the page where she had stopped reading. It was fascinating reading and she knew the others would like to continue as much as she, but she would take over the narrative, allowing Tonks to rest. Finding the appropriate entry she glanced around the group, each one nodding for her to continue and turned her attention to the book.

A throat being cleared, a deep toned male throat, brought all heads around. Harry stood at the door to the cabins, a frown on his face and a slow smile grew as the women reading his journal started, guilty looks springing into being.

"I thought it was an accepted thing that it was bad form to read another person's journal? How did you get your hands on the book? Had you asked I probably would have provided you with it. We might even have sat down and discussed what it contains."

Harry stalked forward to loom over the gathering and long seconds of guilty silence ensured before he turned, grasped a spare chair and settled into it.

"We are sorry Harry, but when Silvenestri gave us the book we… well, we could not resist." Tonks brought a hand up to her rounding middle when their little girl, she was sure it was a girl, decided to let her father know she was there by attempting to kick a hole in the side of her mother's belly.

"I thought it would be her. If you wish, I can provide you with more information, particularly on the magical races I met while on the road. I have notes, not just what is contained in the journal. I am not mad at any of you for reading it, it just would have been nice to have been asked." Harry rested a hand on Tonks' shoulder. "Do remember to look after yourself. Can't have the number one lady I love getting sick or injured."

Tonks smiled and covered his hand with her own as Harry rose to his feet, eyes gleaming and promising revenge as he caught the flash of silver hair vanishing into the companionway. He needed to have a few words with a particular young dragon.

"Harry, who was Kirenna to you? Did you manage to free her?"

Harry paused, his eyes seeming to look far off into space, perhaps seeing the past stretching behind him, before he seemed to shake himself and he looked down at Tonks, his love for her shining in his eyes.

"She was a good friend and yes, she avoided the slaver's fate, or the fate of the sword. She became a trusted friend and traveling companion for a time. I suppose it is not impossible that she might still survive to this day, if she found a secure place. Perhaps she found her way back to the ice caves the Nymphs carved in the north? We parted company one day, amicably, and I never saw her again. I was thinking, if we can spare the time at some point, that I might have a look and see if I can't find evidence the Ice Nymphs have survived."

He stroked her hair gently, his promise of love only for her in both his touch and his look, then he was gone, swiftly and silently through the doors, and a moment later a high pitched squeak indicated he had caught the child.

Tonks smiled. "And my heart is now yours, Harry."

Minerva stirred, flicking her wand at the table and piping hot cups of tea appeared. "Do you need to rest a time, my dear?"

Hermione giggled and at their questioning looks she indicated the red diary where a line of writing had appeared.

_Hey? __What's up? Why have you stopped writing? Talk to me! _

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Thanks to the following Reviews:

robotech001, Borderline Psyco, Mechconstrictor, lycanvandal, Phnxfyr1, kauri, poo20, Dirt Rider 712, Razial, Ezekiel, Tmctflyboy, Ranger Dragen, rio45, Rogue7, Andromedaa, Shaggy37, Morbious20, jay21317, Shopping List, wolfawaken, panda0031698, c3markh.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I only own the OC's and none of the characters from Harry Potter, if I did then Tonks would have stayed alive at the end of DH and Harry would have ended up with Hermione or Tonks and not Ginny

A/N: Goody another chapter all done and ready for everyone to read, I have to say I took a while with this one as I wanted to bring in a few things like Silvenestri having a few problems with how close Harry and Tonks is but I'll leave that for you all to read in this chapter, Enjoy and do leave lots of Reviews

Chapter 3: Oslo, the Report

/ Telepathic /

25 June 1997 A.D. 06:50 AM

The next few days of the voyage passed without a problem and Tonks and the other girls spent most of the time reading over Harry's old journal. It made for interesting reading and they learned a great deal about Harry's distant past.

One notable feature of the voyage was that Tonks' increasing mood swings resulted in the friends finding Harry sleeping in the hallway on more than one occasion. After a few questions from amused people Harry decided it was unfair that everyone found it so amusing Tonks took exception to the baby using her insides as a football field and banished him as a result.

The discovery of the ship's casino resulted in Silvenestri coaxing Harry and his friends to try their luck as no one on the ships crew would permit her to play. Somehow Harry seemed to do quite well and the silver haired child would smile with anything but innocent delight as she made off with no less than half, usually substantially more, of the winnings.

Pursuit of her to retrieve the winnings proved fruitless under the innocent eyelash batting and little girl cuteness, and if that did not work a glimpse of the dragonlings darker side usually had people stepping back to reconsider the wisdom of testing draconic patience. There was little doubt the dragon's horde in the Forbidden Forest was being fed in a steady stream, and even though he was never allowed to touch it, Harry decided that at least one of them was capable of saving gold and that was all to the good. He knew the folly of attempting to separate a dragon from her horde.

The quiet days of the voyage had permitted everyone to get to know each other, which was all to the good as they would be spending months in each others company. Where they were travelling to would be more than merely cold and the environment would be harsh and dangerous, and they would need to trust each other to watch each others backs.

By the time the ship docked Harry was well pleased with the interaction in the group. They disembarked as a group and Hagrid acted as pack horse, the huge trunk containing all their equipment weighed nothing to him. They had barely left the customs department when Harry asked Hagrid to pause and began to sort through the trunk.

Tonks sighed softly and watched as Silvenestri looked around the dock area. The child was as inquisitive as any human child would be, but she already knew the dragon had a nose for trouble and she really did not want to linger long here. Turning to Harry to ask him what the delay was she noted he had separated one large pack from the others and was grinning at her as Hagrid stuffed the other packs into the trunk.

Harry looked over the assembled group, pushed his arm through the strap for the pack and picked Tonks up bridal style, displaying no effort to carry the pack or the young woman, a sure sign his Lord's strength was returning.

"We are going to be spending a great deal of time together in the near future, but we have a two week wait before we can go further north. I thought we could do with a little personal time. So, a two week break. Have fun."

Harry turned his back on the staring group, noted the chorus of surprised exclamations and he made a dash for a taxi in the line of vehicles a little ahead.

Tonks laughed and the Grangers and Minerva heard her commenting on a 'honeymoon before the wedding' to which Harry laughed and tucked her into the taxi. Glancing back at the group Harry winked and waved, nodding to Silvenestri with the silent admonition she behave.

"Wait! What about Silvenestri?" Hermione called out to Harry who looked over his shoulder and grinned.

It was clear Hermione had acquired a little sister for a few weeks, and as the Taxi pulled away everyone looked down at the little girl who looked back at them with a look that warned whoever took her in was going to be put through hell. How dare her rider take off with his mate and NOT take his dragon. The only private time Harry needed was time spent with her!

"Oh dear." Minerva sighed.

One very upset young dragon with the sugary sweet innocent smile equated to them all desperately needing a holiday when Harry and Tonks put in a return appearance. No doubt dragon children were as capable of finding trouble as human children, and they would have to keep her occupied and interested to spare their lives abject misery on a permanent basis.

With a snort Holly looked down at the child, reaching to tap her on the head and catch and hold her gaze. "You will behave yourself, young lady, or I will make certain you don't acquire any more gold or other valuables to add to that growing hoard of yours. Do we understand each other?"

Dragon and human glared at each other, eye to eye and the group watched with intense interest. After a few minutes Silvenestri squirmed, Holly continued to glare. A few more minutes and the dragon growled low, Holly continued to glare and Hermione looked worried. Yet another few minutes of glaring ensued before the dragon bounced a nod and smiled sweetly at the observers.

"Right then," Holly commented as though nothing had happened, knowing she had made her point and she at least would have less trouble from the child. "I guess we have two weeks of 'us' time, people… I wonder what the magical community is like in this country?"

Silvenestri waited until attention shifted from her before she pouted. No one had ever dared threaten her hoard before and she had liked Holly Granger. Now there was a certain amount of respect for the woman as well. She would have to be careful around that one so as not to have her hoard threatened again.

Hagrid took care of the large pack as they sorted out taxis for everyone and Silvenestri sulked a little, muttering to herself that Harry did not need private time with Tonks as everyone knew what they got up to.

"There's a difference, dear, between 'alone' time and 'private' time. They are seeking some alone time to just worry about each other, and to enjoy only each other's company. There comes a time when everyone needs time to oneself, a time without children or other distractions." Holly bundled the little silver dragon into the back of the car, accepting the fact she had basically volunteered to look after the child for the two weeks.

Half and hour later they entered the large four bedroom hotel suite. Exploring it revealed that each room contained two beds and a few quick spells shifted beds around according to need. Hermione and Ginny would be sharing a room with Silvenestri, Molly and Minerva would be in another room and Hagrid and Ron would be rooming together.

It was growing late by the time everyone unpacked and settled in and they ordered room service for the evening meal. Silvenestri scowled fiercely at the menu presented to her and growled about stupid humans always over cooking perfectly good meat.

Holly arched an eyebrow and listened to the low growling and grumbling for a few minutes before gently tugging at a silver curl. "If you don't like it, my dear, then you can always go without. Although I am sure Harry will not be too amused to learn you are starving yourself on a point of principle between a 'blue' steak and a rare steak."

With a final grumble the little dragon promised to devour her meal and Holly nodded approvingly. It would have to get much worse than a grumble or two over meat before Holly would consider complaining to Harry about the child. Whatever species she might be, the child was still a child and Holly had never found a child she could not control to date.

Silvenestri growled under her breath about being expected to behave like a 'tame' human child when there was a loud pop from behind her. Harry, clad only in his jeans and showing he was very well sculpted in the chest, stood behind her holding Tonks, who was draped in a sheet.

Every female in the room paused and took a moment of not so guilty pleasure in eyeing off a bit of male eye candy, promptly squashing the cascade of speculation and naughty thoughts that ensued. Tonks adjusted the sheet enfolding her as she set her feet to the floor and ignored the male attention her sheet clad form was earning.

"You, young lady, are going to behave yourself. I am fed up with the complaints and the grumbling over nothing just because I want a little time alone with Tonks."

Harry took a step towards the young dragon now looking up at him with wide pleading eyes that she was sure no human would be able to say no to…but then, Harry wasn't a normal human.

"But I need something fresh and bleeding! I want it dripping and raw and still hot… and bleeding, it has to be bleeding so I can suck the blood out of it. Please, Harry! I can't take this cooked junk anymore." Silvenestri ran to Harry, pouting, big eyed and pleading.

Harry narrowed his eyes and dropped down to one knee to get closer to her height, "I know you want to hunt, Silvenestri, you have done nothing but complain in my mind since we departed England about not being able to hunt! We all are making sacrifices and you only have to wait another two weeks. After that you can hunt the way you want; you can glut yourself stupid out of sight of the Muggles. We have to avoid attention, Silvenestri. We can not break any laws and earn notoriety."

"But I want it now!" Silvenestri growled and there was definitely something in her tone that was not little girlish but spoke of draconic frustration fast turning to rage. "I need it now!"

Harry narrowed his eyes as he stood up, his eyes studying the child intently and the dragon child almost hopped in place, small hands clenching and unclenching.

"I know I have to wait, I know we have to avoid attention. I am not a stupid human child, I'm a dragon! I want something fresh to eat; it's been too long since I ate something that will fill me. I'm using too much energy keeping this form… I'm using all of the energy I eat to keep this simple form from changing."

Harry raised an eyebrow as he considered the child. They had been able to always feed her raw meat at least once a day since bringing her to the future, but while on the ship they hadn't been able to give her copious quantities of raw meat. While he was the only one to know of the ways of the greater dragons he admitted that he did not know everything about them, and he had no real idea of how much energy it took to feed the shape changing magic of the species in the long term.

Tonks stepped forward and crouched down, pulling the clearly upset little girl into her arms and enfolding her in an embrace.

"I'm sure Minerva and Molly can make up a room for you in the suite, so that it will be magically large enough for you to change back into your true form. Of course it means you will be unable to see the sights of the city, but it will help ease the drain on your energy. Maybe Hagrid can go to a butcher and get you something nice and raw, and sneak it into the hotel as I can't see the hotel staff bringing you an uncooked side of beef."

Silvenestri quivered in the young woman's arms and half turned to look over at the oldest woman in the room and Minerva nodded, starting towards the room where the girls would be sleeping. Through the doorway Silvenestri watched as the woman outlined a door on a wall and she turned her attention back to Tonks as her hair was gently finger combed.

"The Muggles will be unable to see it when the Professor is finished and it will give you the chance to stretch out in your dragon form."

"Hagrid?" Harry looked to Hogwarts Gamekeeper.

"Sure 'arry. Won't be no problem."

"Then that appears to have sorted out that mess," Harry looked to Holly and shrugged apologetically. " Sorry about her snappy attitude, and she is right. We normally feed her a lot of raw meat, Mrs. Granger. It's my fault, expecting too much of her for her age. I'll leave my Gringotts card with Hagrid to sort out enough meat for her."

Harry passed the card to Hagrid and reached down to lightly caress the silver hair and gaze deeply into the little dragons eyes. "You will behave for everyone and you will make a point of explaining to Mrs. Granger what it is you need, and why you need it, not merely start to misbehave. Have some dragon dignity. Mrs. Granger and the others will be able to look after you, and you need to gain some strength before we go north."

"I will if I can eat." The child growled. "I'm your dragon. You are supposed to be looking after me you know."

Harry narrowed his gaze again. "You are my dragon, I have arranged for your food and for room for you to be a dragon and I have arranged for people to look after you. Now stop being a jealous little minx and if I hear one grumble out of you in my head, without there being good cause, I will singe your scales for you. You are my dragon, not my mate, and at the moment it is my mate who gets my attention."

"Harry!" Tonks glared at him. "That was not called for."

"Yes, it was." Harry drew her up and into his arms. "Now, I believe we were working on a full body massage to quiet down our little girl." One hand dropped to nestle on the rounded belly of the pregnant woman.

Tonks took on a dreamy smile as she was picked up, the sheet dipping low to reveal a great deal of naked back and the rising swell of a nicely shaped butt before they vanished with the quick flash of a rune lingering in the air. The women in the room glared at the men who had had an eyeful of naked skin and who quickly found something of interest, be it the colour of the carpet, a chair, or a statuette.

"She shouldn't be apparating around the city that far along in her pregnancy, no matter if it was side along apparition." Molly sighed, remembering how she had come close to a miscarriage with Ginny when she had been forced to apparate in the past. It was only the fact that she had appeared in the hospital that had saved her from losing her baby girl.

"It wasn't apparating as you know it," Silvenestri turned to Molly. "The Dragon Lords use a different technique when they need to move around without the assistance of their dragon. It's a mix of runes and raw magic and should be perfectly safe for Tonks. It wasn't uncommon for a Dragon Lord and their mistress to use this form of transportation."

Silvenestri could see that Molly was a little comforted by the information, though she still looked worried and the dragon peered into the bedroom where there was now an open doorway and no sign of the Professor. Seeing that the creation of a room where she could revert to her natural form was well underway, the child looked hesitantly up at Holly Granger.

"I should apologize, yes?" An eyebrow arched and Silvenestri sighed. "I am sorry I did not explain what was wrong, and that I took out my temper on everyone because Harry saw fit to abandon me for his mate."

Holly quirked her lips into a smile. "As apologies go, I suppose that is one of the oddest I have been treated to, but it will do. Now that we know what needs to be done, shall we get you settled comfortably?"

Everyone decided they needed to look at the room being prepared for the dragon, and the Professor had outdone herself to give Silvenestri a comfortable den. Beyond the door lay a large cave like room with walls and floor seemingly of dark rock and a depression in the ground marked the location where Silvenestri would nest herself down. The professor had even included fine sand on the floor of the cave, and Silvenestri almost purred on seeing it.

"I can scratch my scales with that!"

Holly watched with a critical eye as the little girl she had come to know ran into the centre of the room and shimmered, blurring into the much larger form a lithe silver dragon. The dragon groaned with pleasure as it commenced to roll and grind her scaled back into the sandy depression, clearly enjoying herself. A purred 'thank you' was offered as the professor put the final touches to her creation and joined the observers. For a few minutes Silvenestri wallowed in her sandy depression, groaning and moaning in pleasure before she suddenly curled around herself, her tail tucked close and she dropped off into a nap.

Hermione smiled at her mother and father, noting the wide eyed look and led the way over to the napping dragon, keeping a firm hand on her mother and father's shoulder, though neither of them actually flinched or backed away.

"Say hello to the living symbol of the new Dragon Host, of which I am a member. Silvenestri is the last of the greater dragons, and my very good friend. It's nice to see her so obviously content."

A low rumbling echoed in the magically created room and Hagrid chuckled. "Well, she will be when I go fetch 'er some dinner. I'll just go get ready to fetch 'er some meat. Won't be long."

Holly smiled nervously up at the sleeping dragon, her husband standing just behind her, more focused on the tips of fangs just protruding from under the dragon's upper lip to rest on the lower jaw. The outer membrane of the dragon's eye flickered up and for a moment they were watched through the clear inner membrane before the eye closed and the dragon's breathing evened out as she drifted deeper into sleep.

"She's beautiful, but I find it hard to believe that this is the little girl I have been looking after from time to time over the last few days. I saw her transform but…"

Holly moved a step closer, taking the opportunity to study a creature she had always thought of as being found only in fantasy novels and fairytales, until she was introduced to the world of Wizards and Witches in reality. Her husband also moved closer, bending a little to get a closer look at the tips of protruding fangs. While not daring to touch as yet, Holly took the time to admire every inch of dragon spread out before her, admiring the silver purity of the scales though she thought the silver looked much more handsome than the gray. Looking at the dragon she discovered more gray scales, patchy, never large areas, and she was uncertain if the gray looked exactly healthy.

"Hermione, should those scales be gray? I thought she was metallic silver, but there is much more gray than I assumed there would be."

Holly pointed to the patch of mismatched scales and Hermione leaned in closer to gently run a hand over the scales. Following Silvenestri's vigorous rolling session in the sand it took only a few touches from Hermione for some of the finer gray scales to fall away, revealing brilliant silver scales beneath.

"Oh, well that explains why she has been so snappy of late. Minerva! Hagrid! Silvenestri is molting."

Hagrid lumbered into the room pulling on his great coat and the Professor followed him in, announcing that their dinner had arrived.

"Hagrid, go and fetch that meat. Everyone else, allow her to nap and go get something to eat. We will need to take this descaling in shifts, I think."

Holly watched her daughter move to another area of the large dragon where there was a rather predominate amount of gray now that everyone was looking for it. A vigorous rubbing from Hermione produced a handful of gray scales sliding to the floor and healthy new silver in their place. In her sleep Silvenestri sighed in bliss.

"We'll need to gather up the scales for Harry, but we can do that later."

0000000000000000000000000

Back in England Madam Amelia Bones settled down at her desk to look over the latest health reports for the Auror's corps. It was a task she had started a few months before, but had to abandon it to assist when Voldemort had attacked multiple high ranking members of the Ministry, including her own home. Luckily she had been in her office at the time of the attack on her manor house and she had been spared the assault.

Following the attack she had looked for, and located, a new home for herself and her niece to live a few days before the school year finished. Now that she knew her only family was once again safe she could concentrate on finishing the health reports, something that should have been completed months ago.

She had just finished all of the surnames that started with S, and didn't there seem to be an inordinate number of Auror's with that initial, and now she was into the T's. Making steady progress Madam Bones finally came to one for young Nymphadora Tonks. A frown began to form when she realized the folder felt a little thicker than it should, given that the young woman had only been in active duty for a few years now and as such there should only be a few pieces of paper in the folder. While inordinately clumsy on occasion Tonks rarely hurt herself and had not sustained serious injury thus far as an Auror.

Leaning back in her seat she opened the folder and looked over the latest medical report on the young woman she hoped to one day mould into her replacement. That was of course, if the young woman lived that long, given the sticky situation with the Dark Lord. She looked over the latest information Poppy had given during her last examination and narrowed her eyes a little at the entry suggesting Tonks had been slacking off in her physical training. She would need to have a word with the young woman and perhaps introduce a few extra laps as punishment.

What was this, a new addendum to the folder? Poppy's report quite plainly stated Tonks would not be doing anything in the Auror Corps for a number of years. The young woman Madam Bones had been grooming as her potential replacement was pregnant and the father was… unknown?!

Father unknown?

That little tit bit didn't ring true. Madam Bones made it a point to get to know everyone she considered as a possible replacement for her, and she knew Tonks wasn't the type of girl to sleep around. In fact the few times she had talked with Nymphadora Tonks personally concerning her social life, Tonks had stated she was happily single.

Happily single.

Giving the matter a few more minutes thought Amelia looked back at the reports. The Hogwarts reports were pretty standard, save for the fully detailed battle from a few months ago. Even the information on young Mr. Potter taking part in the battle was included in the report, in rather fine detail. Amelia admitted she wouldn't mind meeting this dragon the Potter heir had taken into his care.

Taking another few moments to think things through she decided to see what her niece knew as she had been at Hogwarts with Tonks for a school year and it was likely Susan might be able to shed some light on the subject. Amelia took the folder and after informing her secretary she was heading home for the day, and that he should do the same, Amelia entered the fireplace and vanished in a cloud of green smoke and flames.

Stepping out into the simple cottage she had found for herself and her niece, she nodded to Susan who smiled up at her from the book she was reading. The young strawberry blonde looked more and more like her mother with each passing day, and Amelia tossed the folder onto the table in front of Susan.

"Hi, Aunty, you're home early. Is something the matter?" Susan put her book down, looked at the folder on the table and raised an eyebrow at the name on the folder. Tonks had been a big help at the school over the last year, teaching dueling and other helpful skills in case the students ever found themselves up against a Death Eater.

"I know you like to keep up with the gossip mill in Hogwarts, and I was wondering if you have heard anything about Nymphadora in the last few months? Namely any word on her having a boyfriend within, say, the last six months or so?" Amelia gave her wand a practiced flick and a cup of tea appeared on the table and she settled across from her niece.

Susan laughed softly, not even pausing to think. "I'm surprised you haven't heard, Aunty. I know you know all about Harry having in his care a little girl who is really a Greater Dragon. They are under the Headmaster's protection for the moment. Anyway, when Silvenestri took her first flight a few months ago, after the battle for the school, Harry and Tonks were found kissing right there in the middle of the Quidditch field for all to see! Ever since then it's nearly impossible to see them apart, and there are even rumors that have them sleeping in the same room at night."

Amelia stared at her niece for a moment before nodding and looking down at her tea cup, giving some deep thought on the whole matter. She had a feeling she knew Tonks well enough to know that the young woman wouldn't be inclined to cheat on her boyfriend, and that would mean there was another generation of Potter on the way.

"Did Tonks seem different to you over the last few months? Perhaps a little moody?" Amelia picked up the folder before Susan could open it, wondering why Poppy didn't list the father's name. Harry would come of age in a month, or so and it would not have been the first time a young couple had gotten a little ahead of the formalities.

"Well, no, not really. I mean, she did spend a bit of time in the hospital wing a few hours a day ever month since Silvenestri returned from her flight, but I think that was to do with Silvenestri. Other than that she seemed fine and in good shape." Susan tapped her chin in thought, deciding to ask a question of her own. "Why the sudden interest in Tonks, Aunty?"

Amelia looked her niece over, gauging whether or not she would keep this information to herself or if she would be likely to share with her friends. Perhaps a few rules first?

"If I tell you what I found out today, you are not to tell a soul… not even your friends. In fact the only people you would be able to talk freely to about this with would be the school nurse, Poppy Pomfrey, and me."

Susan considered her aunt and nodded in agreement, even giving an oath not to tell anyone what she was about to hear. Amelia nodded and then handed the file over. As the teen opened the file her eyes went wide at the paper on top.

Amelia nodded, "What you have just read is correct. Tonks in pregnant and from your information it's safe to say that Mr. Potter is the father. The question is how long have they been seeing each other? And how far along is she? The report is two months old."

"With the power and the spells Harry can cast as a Dragon Lord, although no one knows how he become one yet, he could hide the fact that his girlfriend is carrying his child. She wasn't showing any signs of being pregnant over the last few months… but that could be the result of a spell. Wouldn't the Headmaster know the details?" Susan was trying to come to grips with the knowledge that her friends of a couple of years were going to become parents at such a young age.

"I certainly plan on asking him the next time I see him. Until then, I think we should sort out dinner and forget about this whole thing. After all, if the Headmaster is hiding the fact that Harry is the father, then he must have a good reason." Amelia stood and waved her niece towards the kitchen. "A problem for the morning, I think."

Susan nodded and smiled and assisted in making dinner, all the while wondering what Tonks and Harry were up to now. The grape vine had it they had both vanished off the map a few days ago, as had everyone in Harry's new Dragon Host.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I only own the OC's and none of the characters from Harry Potter, if I did then Tonks would have stayed alive at the end of DH and Harry would have ended up with Hermione or Tonks and not Ginny

A/N: Hello all and welcome once again to another chapter of Dragon Lords 2, I have to say that this is another feller chapter and set up so no getting upset about this ok, now then as always I enjoy hearing what people think of my work and as such I look forward to lots of reviews so do press that button at the bottom people thanks.

Enjoy.

Chapter 4: The Trip North.

/ Telepathic /

09 July 1997 13:50 PM AD

The two weeks Harry had designated as a holiday were some of the best holidays that the Dragon Host and their families had had in a long while. Between seeing the sights of the city and the surrounding countryside, and for just the simple enjoyment of each other's company, no one really noticed the time go by. Despite preparing for their departure it came as something of a surprise when Tonks walked into the hotel room at close to two in the afternoon on the last day.

Holly nodded in greeting, noting how Tonks seemed to glow with love and happiness. Her hair was a light red in colour while her skin boasted a perfect tan and subtle glow, setting off her eyes which were a deep blue at the moment. A happy smile further added to her glow of general well being as she calmly walked over to a chair to one side, taking her seat and bringing a hand up to rest on her unhidden middle. Clearly she had decided not to hide her condition any more. Rising from her seat Holly made her way into the small kitchenette.

"Well, my dear, I see you are positively all aglow. Is Harry that good?" Holly flashed a cheeky smile at Tonks.

With a brief nod Tonks leaned back in her seat, one hand gently rubbing her middle, watching as Harry entered the room, the pack over one shoulder while he held what looked like a small wooden box in his other hand.

"He's all that and more…" Tonks sighed happily, recalling the last couple of weeks where Harry had treated her to everything she most enjoyed, as well as romantic dinners and many other amusements that would make any woman green with envy. "Anyway, did you all enjoy your two weeks of vacation? We have sorted out our next required transport. All is good to go."

"That's good." Minerva rested the open romance novel she had been reading on her knee, watching as Harry placed the box on the coffee table beside Tonks a moment after he put the pack he was carrying in the trunk to one side.

The young man was looking even more like his old self from the distant past, she decided. His body was gaining the appearance of a maturity far in advance of his actual chronological age. Harry had gained height and weight and enough development in bone structure and muscle density to give him the appearance of a twenty two or twenty three year old.

"So how was Silvenestri after that first night? I haven't picked up anything from her over the last two weeks."

Harry settled down in front of Tonks, the young Auror immediately starting to play with his long hair, a small; contented smile on her face. Holly had the distinct impression that Tonks was coming up with mental images of what her baby might look like. It was a game she herself had played when she had been pregnant.

"She's alright, a little snappy on occasion as she was molting, and still is to a degree. I think she likes having all of us around to rub off the old scales for her. By the way, we have collected the scales and they are in one of the compartments of the large trunk. Hermione said something about you might have a use for them, something about potions and crafting unique magical items." Holly reappeared from the kitchenette with a large tray of sandwiches and a pot of tea.

"Where is everyone?"

Harry beamed a smile at Holly as he took a sandwich from the tray as she paused beside him, Tonks taking the opportunity to take a few sandwiches herself. Holly smiled as she set the tray down on the table and settled into her seat and Minerva put up her book, settling to the conversation.

"Hermione and Ginny are with Molly and Arutha down in the magical shopping district here in Oslo. I believe they are after maps and Hermione said something about a book on the natives of this area. Hagrid is out getting another side of beef for that little dragon of yours, and Ron went with him." Minerva took a sandwich from the tray and, with a quick few waves of her wand, had the tea poured and served to everyone at the table.

"Sound like everyone is getting along alright and hopefully everyone is ready to move out."

Harry closed his eyes and sighed with pleasure as Tonks started to gently rub his scalp with the balls of her fingers. He was quite content to enjoy the company, the massage and the refreshments. His eyes opened fast enough, however, when he felt a familiar presence blossom in his mind and he was quick enough to return his cup to the table as a silver blur hit him in the chest at full speed.

"Nice to see you too, dear." He smiled wrapping his arms around the little girl who quite happily crawled into his lap.

Silvenestri looked to be around six or seven years old for a human, was a bit taller and somehow more refined in appearance having undergone a certain amount of physical development during the latest molt. She kept her arms locked around his neck, her face pressed into his chest as she sighed happily. Tonks smiled at her little sister in all but name and blood, happy to see the child again.

"You're not leaving my sight again for the rest of this trip!" The little dragon child declared into his shoulder before glancing quickly at Tonks and burying her head in Harry's chest once more.

Holly laughed softly at the little girl's attachment to Harry, leaning back to enjoy her tea. Minerva took up her book and they enjoyed a quiet interlude with a good cup of tea while Harry, Tonks and Silvenestri renewed their acquaintance. All was packed and ready for the train set to depart at sundown. There was plenty of time to discuss what would come next.

It was an enjoyable afternoon of quiet conversation and amusing anecdotes of events that had happened during their separation. It was brought to an end when Silvenestri's head snapped up and her eyes became glued on the door, her small pink tongue emerging to run over her lips. Holly, noting the child's reaction, was quick to move to the door, opening it in time to forestall Hagrid from reaching for it.

"I see you have been spoiling her, haven't you Hagrid?" Harry held onto the struggling child trying to get down from his lap, a grin lightening his face. "I do hope you left me some money in my account, as I do have a baby on the way."

Hagrid grinned his hairy grin and nodded as he casually tossed the bag hanging over his shoulder to one side. "I have only been feeding her once a day, Harry. No need to worry about yer accounts, everyone pitched in a little ta help with the bills."

"And she has been fed blood by the barrel full." Holly returned to the table taking a sip of a fresh cup of tea.

She settled in her seat and nodded in greeting to Ron as he appeared from behind Hagrid's vast bulk. Ron moved to the table and set on the floor four little toy barrels, spacing them carefully apart as he did so. With a wave of her wand Minerva had the barrels revert to their normal size.

Harry rolled his eyes, leaning backwards against Tonks and releasing his hold on Silvenestri. In a flash the little girl was off, running over to the large bag where she curled herself around it and began to pet it gently, as one would pet a cat or a dog. A low crooning emerged from her throat, a deeper and more resonating sound than should have been able to emerge from a human throat.

"Hagrid, I know young dragons drink a lot of blood to help keep up their energy, and it helps with their capacity to learn, but Silvenestri doesn't need to drink copious quantities of it anymore. In fact the only time she would drink this amount of blood again would be when she would be ready for a mating flight."

"But, 'arry, she's only a baby! Going by all of the books I've read 'bout Dragons, they should stop bloodin' their kills when they turn ten years old and not before."

Hagrid smiled fondly down at Silvenestri who had stopped patting her lunch and was now proceeding to drag it towards the room Minerva had created for her use. A room which the Professor would soon be taking down with the growing proximity to their departure time.

"I assure you, Hagrid, that she is hardly a baby. Greater Dragons age rather like a normal humans until they reach about twenty years of age, give or take a little for the individual. When they reach that prime age they slow right down in development and aging for the next few hundred years. They begin to age again on reaching their ninth century. She's enjoyed being spoiled, but where we are going she might be more than a handful with that amount of energy in relatively confined space for a long period of time. I assure you we can stop feeding her blood and not short her needs, Hagrid."

The entire group were watching the child haul the bag, which was larger than her human form, to the door, pause to open it and, with a succession of growls and grumbles in a surprisingly deep voice, Silvenestri hauled the bag over the threshold and the door slammed shut a moment later. Everyone burst into laughter and found suitable seating.

"Well, she is going to be happy while she eats that." Tonks snickered, returning to her game playing with a few locks of Harry's hair. Her own hair shifting to its natural colour, as did her eyes, but her left hand remanded gently on her rounding middle. The smile still very much in evidence she turned to Holly. "So did you make the mistake of staying in the room the first time a meal was brought to her?"

Mrs. Granger shuddered and nodded, rising to enter the kitchenette to prepare more sandwiches. They would need to leave soon to beat the worst of the traffic, but they had time to eat first. The image of the little girl turned dragon tearing into the whole cow Hagrid had brought for her the first morning was something no one would forget. Everyone, except occasionally Hagrid, made certain they were not around whenever the little one was eating. Hagrid had a tendency to watch every bloody mouthful with the attention of a mature dragon making certain a hatchling ate every bite and didn't choke in its haste.

Arutha had lingered for that first meal; he had wanted to be the first Muggle dentist to examine Greater Dragon's teeth with a professional mind to affecting treatment for tooth decay. He had not lingered after that first occasion, nor had he commented on the idea of fixing her teeth should the need arise. That huge gaping maw and the size of the fangs alone was rather off putting, even to a professional dentist who prided himself on his work.

A few hours later one happily sated young dragon and party were waiting in the lobby as they checked out of their rooms. From the lobby it was a quick sorting out of who went into which waiting taxi, and then a drive across town to the train station to begin their journey north. Harry and Tonks had already prepared the next leg of their journey and were quite happy to sit back on the train and relax.

Harry settled beside Tonks and produced a driving manual for snowmobiles, placing two others on the seat next to him with appointed look at the others suggesting they familiarize themselves with the units.

"Harry, you're not having all of us drive those things are you? The weather will be freezing and we will need something bigger, and warmer, than snow mobiles." Hermione took the seat next to Harry as Tonks dropped her head onto Harry's shoulder, reading the manual he had opened.

"Nothing to worry about, Hermione. I brought three snowmobiles and a large truck fitted with tank treads for rear wheels. The truck is completely charmed for safety reasons, so we will not need to worry about running out of fuel or breakdowns, which goes for the snowmobiles too. The truck also has a few creature comforts enchanted into it, such as a heating charm, and additional rooms in its rear, including a bathroom and four bedrooms."

Harry produced a pamphlet for the truck which Mr. Granger took from his hands as Ron took one of the snow mobile manuals and Holly the last manual, a happy smile growing on her face as she looked it over.

"He was only going to get the snowmobiles, but I talked him out of it. It's amazing how men start to think when suggestions such as water breaking while ridding one. And the fact it would be damn uncomfortable after hours of sitting on one also came in for some consideration."

Harry blushed and offered up a sheepish grin in his defence. It was an enjoyable trip and after a few hours Tonks snuggled down to take a nap. It would be a two day train ride before they got to their last stop and then the great trip north would truly begin.

With little to do but rest and reflect on the unknown they were heading into the trip passed peacefully and it was often the case that Harry found himself being used as a pillow, either by Tonks or Silvenestri. At one stage he kept a pillow with him and whenever the dragon fell asleep he would wriggle out from under her and set the pillow in his place. At one stage or another everyone found themselves acting a pillow for someone, be it friend, partner or sibling.

00000000000000000000000000000000

10 July 1997 12:30 PM AD

Amelia Bones studied the files lined up on her desk, considering the one thing in common with all of them. Harry Potter. His name appeared on three of the folders which were clipped together in one pile, the first folder containing his family records and the second was his school records, as they appeared in the files at Hogwarts. The last of the three was listed as general information, though it actually contained his list of achievements beyond his studies.

A file to the left of Harry's pile bore the name Nymphadora Tonks, her Auror's records. Here Harry's name appeared in reports telling her she had agreed to assign the young Auror to be Potter's bodyguard while at school. She had to admit Tonks had a unique way of watching Potter closely. Amelia would not have thought the girl would have thought to sleep with him to complete her mission, but then she didn't know when they had first meet or how long they might have been in company with each other before Harry went to school the previous year.

The final file was the latest addition and was particularly interesting to her as it was a Gringotts file, and it had been far from easy to garner this particular information. It contained the information on Harry Potter's bank account and the interesting fact that in the last two months Tonks' name had been added to the very small list of people able to access the account. The Goblins had also admitted they were working on various investments for Harry, under Potter's specific instruction, and the information he would be out of contact with them for the summer.

It was all very interesting but singularly uninformative where she needed the information the most. How annoying.

"It would appear I am not going to learn anything more without talking with Albus." She glared at the offending piece of paper which had been annoying her for the last two weeks.

Such a small innocent appearing piece of paper but it had significance, even if at the moment she did not understand just what that significance was. One of her best Auror's had taken herself off active duty and, given the rules governing Aurors, might never return to the profession. Before Tonks could return she would need to pass a series of trying tests designed to show how much of her mind was on her work and how much on the child. An Aura could not afford distractions; it was a death sentence. Few women, once they had a child, could pass the test, for what kind of world was it when a mother was asked to choose between her child's safety and the safety of the Minister for Magic should both be threatened at the same time in front of her?

It was a heartless test in Ameila's opinion and one she had tried removing or modifying in the past, but she had failed then. How could a mother not choose her child, especially when the Minister might well be a weak minded fool like some she could name?

With a sigh Amelia Bones collected the files on her desk and, leaving a message that she would be unavailable for the remainder of the afternoon, she headed for her fireplace. She had made an appointment earlier in the day to speak with the Headmaster of Hogwarts and she was not inclined to keep him waiting. Tossing the floo powder into the fire she stepped into the flame and named her destination.

Amelia calmly watched as fireplaces and people shot past her as she negotiated the network, her eyes locking onto the headmaster's office fireplace as it neared. When she was close enough she started to walk on the spot, her feet touching down without a problem onto something which felt soft, like heavy sand, under her feet and she started walking forward. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of her in younger days, before she had she worked out the trick to exiting the system, there had been some mad flights as she was ejected from the network; exhilarating, but most uncomfortable most of the time.

He had let down the wards guarding the fireplace for her appointment and she could feel them snap back into place as she stepped from the flames. Many silver gadgets and the paintings of past headmasters and mistresses where among the first things that greeted her. Some of the paintings nodded in polite greeting while others slept on and some talked to each other in hushed whispers.

Albus Dumbledore himself sat behind his desk, quietly reading over some sort of report, his companion Fawkes sat on his perch, offering a small trill in greeting. Albus did not even look up from the papers he was reading, but he pointed to the chair across from his desk.

"Do take a seat Amelia, my dear, and feel free to ask for some tea from the house elves. I'll be with you in a moment."

"No rush Albus, my friend. I have cleared my entire afternoon for this meeting. I can't say I am in any sort of hurry to return to the office."

Amelia inclined her head at a loud 'pop' and requested a cup of tea from the house elf that appeared at her elbow. The strangely dressed elf quickly nodded and bent down to pick up a few hats that fell from his head before vanishing, reappearing once more a few minutes later to hand her a large cup of tea. A tray appeared on the headmaster's desk within easy reach of her, containing everything she needed to replenish the drink.

"I'm quite sure your niece would love to spend the afternoon with you if this meeting should finish up early." Albus finished the paperwork before him, placing it in a box marked 'out'. The house elf appeared a moment later with another cup of tea for Albus and took the dozen or so documents in the box before it vanished.

"There we go, all done. Being headmaster has its fun moments and allows one to meet and mold the next generation of wizard and witches, but the paperwork almost makes me want to quit. I think it is only the sight of the first year students at the beginning of the year which changes my mind and makes me stay on." Albus opened his sweets jar and took one from it, offering the jar to Amelia. "What can I do for you this fine afternoon, Amelia my dear?"

Madam Bones took a chocolate covered sweet and popped it into her mouth as she placed the files she had brought with her on his desk. "I would like to know what the connection is between Mr. Harry Potter and Ms. Nymphadora Tonks. I would also like to know why the young woman I was planning on grooming to be my replacement, will be taken off active duty in two weeks time and won't be permitted back until she passes the return to duty test in something more than a year's time. We all know it is a test no mother would pass. Who in their right mind would choose the life of a Minister over their own child?"

Albus took the time to look over the files, raising an eyebrow at the Goblins actions concerning Harry's finances. Mr. Potter had failed to mention that little titbit of information in their meetings.

"What makes you think there is a connection between Mr. Potter and Ms. Tonks, other than her being his bodyguard, of course?" He was rather hoping that her niece had not informed her aunt about their private relationship.

"Don't take me for a fool, Albus. I wasn't one back in school and I am certainly not one now, despite the fact that many of my old classmates have become very foolish indeed with the power they have gained in office." Amelia said sharply, leaning forward in her seat and making a note of the slight movement to one side of the office; it had come from a wall and she could only hope it was one of the ghosts and not someone hidden by magic. "Tell me the truth. My niece has already informed me they have been dating for most of the year, given how close they were when that little Dragon of his took to the air a few months ago."

Albus sighed and inclined his head to the corner where the movement had come from. "What do you think, Mrs. Ravenclaw? Should we tell her the whole truth about were our young lord is, as well as his small host?"

The ghost of Rowena Ravenclaw became visible a moment later, smiling as she noted the shocked reaction of the Auror. It appeared her niece had forgotten to mention the appearance of the ghost of one of the founders.

"I don't see why not. The Ministry was bound to try something sooner or later to gain control of Harry. After all, he is an uncontrollable element in their sphere of control, which is something they never like." Rowena glided forward and 'sat' in the seat next to Madam Bones. "I know all about the Ministry's need to control everything; they tried it often enough when we build Hogwarts."

Amelia raised an eyebrow, shifting back in her chair and watching the ghost of Rowena closely. Albus calmly pulled another sweet from his jar as he motioned toward it in open invitation.

"I know what you mean, Mrs. Ravenclaw. Our current Minister has tried to gain control of Hogwarts for some years now, and he succeeded a few years go, until that woman went overboard."

Albus sucked at his sweet and looked up, raising an eyebrow at the obvious dislike for Umbridge in Madam Bones' tone.

"She might not have been a Death Eater, but storing her with them is doing her no harm. We really could not find anywhere else that seemed suitable for her and besides, it appears she might be changing her tune on half bloods and Muggle-born." She offered up what could actually pass as a relatively good evil smile, it was enough to have Albus snort his amusement and have the Ravenclaw ghost hide her smile behind her hand.

"Anyway Albus, I would like to know where Ms. Tonks is and just what Mr. Potter's plans are with that dragon of his." Amelia leaned forward in her seat, hoping the answer forthcoming would be a good one.

Albus sighed softly and rose, moving to look out the window. The ghost of Rowena drifted through the air to hover to one side and look down at Madam Bones.

"They, along with a select few others, are currently in search of the lost city of an old race once allied to the Dragon Lords. If the city can be found, and this is considered doubtful, it might be possible to raise it and… acquire…help from what lies there." He chose his words with particular care, not willing to give away all of the information, but knowing he had to give her something. "As to Harry's plans… only he knows them all, I am afraid. I merely know he thinks there may be assistance to be found within the city. It would be to our advantage if something was found which might assist in the battle against Voldemort."

"I can tell you that he plans on breaking the Ministry should they try anything against him after he defeats Voldemort. Anything meaning any attempt to arrest him for the deaths of any Pure Bloods which may occur under this Dark Lords control; you can't say that such has not happened in the past."

The ghost smiled sweetly at the Auror; Harry had spoken to her at length before his departure and entrusted her with making certain preparations in his absence. Before either of the two living people could comment, Rowena looked over at the paintings of past headmasters and mistress.

"He intends to live out his life after facing Voldemort looking after his family, and helping to protect the weak from the Darkness where ever possible. I have little doubt if anyone should attack him, or any person whom he considers under his protection, that he will retaliate with maximum force."

"The Ministry would not attack him. At least I can't see the Minister being that stupid." Amelia faltered at the twin looks she received before sighing and inclining her head. "Perhaps he might should he still be in power when it is over, which I personally doubt. What could we do to ensure nothing like that happens?"

Albus nodded and smiled at Amelia. The woman was not deluded by the Minister, that was obvious. "The most dangerous time at the moment will be around Halloween, when Tonks is due to have her baby. Should the Minister conclude, or someone suggest it to him, that acquiring the child would bring Harry into line to ensure the infants safety, events could become most difficult."

Amelia nodded; she could see Fudge doing something stupid like that to gain a little control over Potter. It was something she didn't like at all; she had seen mother's defending their children before and it wasn't a pretty picture. Death Eaters and Ministry officials alike might learn that the hard way before this was all over. And then there was that dragon and Potter himself to be considered.

"I'll do what I can to keep this information hidden from the Ministry. The longer we can contain the knowledge that Tonks is pregnant to Harry Potter the better. Chances are the Wizarding world will know about their relationship soon enough; children do talk and from the sounds of it neither was overly discrete whilst at Hogwarts. It would not take too long for most women to put two and two together to get three." Amelia's comment drew a smile from Rowena and an amused snort from Dumbledore.

Rowena sighed and glided to the wall, deciding it was time for her to leave. "I'll see what I can learn of Voldemort's plans with the resources I have at my disposal. I bid you good day."

Before either Albus or Amelia could react she flitted through the wall. Madam Bones gathered up her folders, nodded briefly to Dumbledore and, at a wave of his wand to release the wards on his fireplace, they exchanged amicable nods and she tossed in a handful of floo powder.

With her departure Albus restored the wards and returned to work, marking another day on his calendar closer to Halloween. There was a day marked in blue to remind him to ensure the hospital wing was empty, or at least the private rooms were prepared. That was the day Tonks had to return, if she had not already prior to that date.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in any way shape or form, just the OC's and a few other little things I own from this story.

A/N: Hello all and welcome to the new year and this the new chapter of Dragon Lords 2, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and know that I am working on the new chapters for my other fic I'm working on save Songstress as I have written all of that story or at lists the outline of it and only need to fill it out now, enjoy and leave lots of reviews

Chapter 5: Never Learn.

/ Telepathic /

14 July 1997 06:00 AM AD

The sunrise was beautiful, not nearly as beautiful as the young woman at his side, but Harry had to say it was breathtaking. The team were two days travel out from the city that was the train's last stop and everyone was quickly acclimating to the cold and to the barren landscape that made up the plain and foot hills to the mountain range. They needed to cross the range and then they truly would have begun their search for the Forgotten's Holy City.

He was tired, so was Tonks, as they had been awake most of the night their baby having decided to exercise in a most vigorous fashion, using her mother's internal organs for toys. With the demand for attention keeping  
Tonks awake and decidedly uncomfortable, Harry had spent his night gently rubbing her middle from midnight until dawn while Tonks had hummed softly in hopes of calming the little one.

They had left the back of the truck that was acting as home for everyone a few moments before, their daughter having decided, finally, that it was time to settle and rest. The respite gave Harry and Tonks the chance to enjoy watching the sunrise over the rugged scenery, Harry seated comfortably in a conjured chair with Tonks relaxing in his lap. The beauty and silence of the moment was breathtaking, captivating them with its majesty.

Silvenestri was the only other member of the expedition up at this early hour. She had transformed to her natural form through the night and now lay with her head angled towards the pair as she dozed, only the inner lid of her eyes being closed at the moment, a certain sign that she was not actually asleep. They were far enough away from civilization now that the young dragon could assume her natural form and enjoy a good hunt, which had produced some fun the night before.

Silvenestri had taken to the skies and this sign of freedom with relish, returning some time later with a Reindeer caught between her massive jaws, still kicking and struggling to escape. Thinking nothing of mouthing her food before settling down to eat she had sent everyone except Harry and Hagrid fleeing into the truck to be spared the sight of her tearing into her still living meal.

After gorging herself on the animal Silvenestri had curled up to sleep, the chill of the air not seeming to bother her in the least and she had not moved when Harry and Tonks had emerged from the truck.

A few minutes after sunrise Holly appeared, looking around to see where the young couple had gone and to check if the silver dragon would be joining them for breakfast, or if she would be hunting. The sight of the happy couple relaxing and watching the multi coloured sky made her pause for a few moments to appreciate the sight herself.

Harry stirred, raising his chin from where it rested on Tonks hair as he looked over his shoulder. "We'll be joining you for breakfast shortly Holly, and Silvenestri will be fine for a little while. From the look of her I venture to guess she is digesting her dinner from last night. I think she went out hunting again after that first kill."

An eye lid flickered and a rumbling burp escaped the sated dragon, drawing an exasperated look from Harry who privately thought the one beast would have been sufficient for a few days, but he was well aware Silvenestri had been in her human form for a long period of time and she was no doubt making up for her relative captivity in a puny human body. He would need to see she did not engage in huge meals too often though, they did not need her to be gorged senseless and unable to function.

"Very well, Harry. I'll be cooking something that I think should help calm down the baby. I heard you both moving around last night and as none of your magical ways seem to settle the little one down, I think it is time to try the Muggle way."

Harry nodded in thanks, willing to try anything to get a decent night's sleep and sure Tonks would agree with him. With a smile Holly climbed back into the truck but not before drawing a deep lung full of cold fresh air and commenting on how beautiful the morning was.

Tonks sighed and looked up at Harry, bringing her hands up to rub her middle as the baby shifted, stretching a foot into a rib. "I think I'll try just about anything at the moment to get a decent night sleep… Thanks for putting up with me, love."

"Anytime, anywhere Tonks. You know this is a team effect now and I will do anything I can to make this that much easier for you." Harry kissed her cheek before helping her get to her feet and slowly standing up himself. "Guess it is time for breakfast."

Taking a moment to admire her Harry could not hep but smile. Even after a night of no sleep Tonks looked beautiful to him. The other morning had been anything but peaceful when Tonks had awoken and, after studying herself in a mirror, had attempted to change her appearance. They had known it would happen, that her natural morphing ability would cease to function and it had done so overnight, locking Tonks into her brown hair and clear neutral gray eyes.

She had looked wonderful to Harry though the screech of horror clearly showed what Tonks thought on the matter. Until she gave birth, and for an indeterminate time there after, she would be unable to change forms and she had been thankful Harry had held her while she mourned the loss of her power. It was a power she had known since she was a small child and not being able to reach for it now was just… wrong to her.

Molly and the others had been banished from Tonks' presence. She had been near to hysterical at the thought of anyone other than Harry seeing her natural looks. The women had not liked it, but they had allowed it, though they had insisted that Harry talk her around. They knew she could not hide herself away until the baby was born.

It had been a little after the midday hour before Harry had convinced Tonks to leave their bedroom and enter the living room. On the verge of bursting into tears, or flying into a rage, Tonks was not sure which at the time, the other women had sat down with her and step by step had introduced her to the wonderful art of makeup. With her morphing ability Tonks had never needed to use makeup before, and it was quite an experience for her to learn the do's and don'ts of cosmetics.

Now Tonks felt a little more herself if she could make up her face in the morning. It had led to her being happier for the remainder of the day. Harry refused to tell her she had dark circles under her eyes or she would vanish into the truck looking for make up to hide behind. He thought she looked wonderful.

"What are you thinking about Harry?" Tonks asked as he assisted her into the back of the magically enhanced truck and, realizing he was not behind her, she poked her head back out of the door, finding him looking up at her with a small smile curving his mouth.

"I'm thinking how lucky I am that I wake up to the sight of an angel every morning. No matter what others might say Tonks, you really are beautiful in your natural form." Harry stepped up to join her and kissed her softly.

Tonks smiled and sighed, inclining her head a little and studying him. Then her nose began to twitch and she ran a hand over her extended belly.

"Food." She whispered and, laughing together, Harry guided her with a hand resting on the small of her back into the kitchen where the others waited.

Seated around a large table the conversation over breakfast was lively and everyone looked on in high amusement as Tonks filled a plate filled with every bit as much food as was on Ron's. The two began to eat in unison, fork for fork going between their plates and mouths.

"She maybe an angel most of the morning, but at the table at the moment she is a demon." Harry laughed, the others joining in until Tonks gave them all a narrowed eyed look. Harry leaned forward to kiss her cheek, "But I still love you."

"Good answer, Mr. Potter." Minerva commented from the end of the table, teacup in hand mostly hiding the small smile at the near miss Harry had just survived.

Holly and Molly nodded in agreement, the girls only shaking their heads. Hermione muttered something about working on the 'boys guide to understanding girls and what not to say'.

"You are working on a book to help guys understand you girls, Hermione?" Ron looked up from his rapidly diminishing meal. "That could be a best seller if you can use words us guys can understand."

Hermione rolled her eyes, getting up from the table and informing her mother she was off to get dressed properly. Everyone else at the table laughed at the confusion on Ron's face and the meal passed pleasantly.

It wasn't long after everyone had finished eating that the door opened to reveal the silver haired child form of Silvenestri. The little girl was smiling sweetly up at everyone as she brought, to everyone's shock, a splinted bone fragment to her lips and proceeded to pick something out from between her teeth.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Silvenestri. I trust you slept well after your double meal last night?" Harry enquired as almost everyone greeted the child and quickly excused themselves to get dressed and prepare to face the day.

"Of course I did," The sliver of bone was extracted from her teeth, examined for a moment and then popped into her mouth, an action closely followed by the sound of teeth crushing bone. "I have to say the Deer around here taste a lot better than they do back in England. More gamey."

"It's Reindeer, actually and they would not have been hunted as much in this area as the Deer in England would have been. Reindeer are farmed here in large herds, so be sure not to hunt the domestic breed. I have no intention of moving to this region permanently just so you can gorge yourself on the local beasts. Those not so gamey Deer will have to do you."

The dragon child scrunched her nose at Harry and bit down hard on a piece of bone. Harry grinned at her and tousled her hair as he walked past. It was time he prepared his snowmobile as he, Ron and Holly were acting as scouts to clear the path for the much heavier and larger truck.

Silvenestri sniffed delicately as Harry left the room and grinned at Molly, who was the only one left in the kitchen. "I can always fly here to hunt."

"You could also be happy with whatever you can get. Mind your manners, Sweet Heart." Molly returned.

"I'm a dragon." The child almost purred to herself. "I usually get what I want."

* * *

14 July 1997 10:00 AM AD

Back in England Voldemort was looking through some of the oldest books he had been able to get his hands on. He had set his Death Eaters to scour England looking for old tomes but as yet not one of the books brought to him contained any useful information of what Harry Potter had become. Myths and Legends, that was all he could find, not one hard single fact, only myths which spoke of the great power a Dragon Lord supposedly had to call upon.

"How did the boy gain this power…? I am the most powerful Wizard to have ever lived, yet this little whelp has somehow gained a powerful ally in that pet lizard of his. He had gained power somehow through a bond with that pet and I can find no information!" He spat out, throwing another book to one side in disgust and growing rage at the lack of information within its pages.

"My Lord!" Wormtail ran into the room, prepared to throw himself at his Lord's feet and grovel to deliver his news, only to find himself flailing helplessly in agony, his body wracked by the Cruciatus curse for daring to interrupt his Lord's thoughts.

"What is it?!" Voldemort snapped after a few moments of watching the little man spasm and scream in pain.

It would not do to lie on the floor and pant after the agony. Wormtail knew that if he did not want a return bout of the curse he had best be quick about answering. He could hurt later.

"My Lord, one of our agents within the Ministry has discovered that the half blood Auror whore who Potter has been seeing is the niece of Bellatrix and that she is now on pregnancy leave."

Wormtail grovelled from his spot on the floor; he liked the floor and viewing the world from its even surface. It was more than likely a habit acquired from his years of hiding as the Weasley's rat familiar that acquired his preference for being so close to ground level.

"So the boy has a baby on the way… and the child will be related to my most loyal agent. Perhaps Bellatrix would like to go and fetch the whore and we can raise the child in the pure blood ways… After all, if her Aunt is anything to go by this child could be a powerful servant when she grows into her power." Voldemort mused, leaning against the table and momentarily forgetting the musty old tomes stacked there for his reading. "I can us the child to make the boy surrender to me and then… then I can take control of that pet lizard in return for the child."

Not that Potter would be given the child, of course. He, the Dark Lord, the greatest of the great, would have it all!

Wormtail nodded vigorously, pathetically, and slowly gained his feet, "I thought the information would please my Lord. I live to please my Lord. I have recently learned the pair of them, along with a few others, are no longer in England. Somewhere in Norway, that is what the boy's fat pig of an Uncle said when I ran into him at a pub the other day."

The Dark Lord rose to his feet, pacing a few steps as he considered the new information. What was that cursed brat and his petty minions up to now?

"Hmmm, I have few supporters in that nation… but no, I have a better idea. Malfoy. Malfoy can regain some of his lost ranking within my order. He can go to Norway, find them and get the woman and bring her to me alive. He can kill the boy's friends along the way to earn my favour." Voldemort walked toward the door, a sinuous, evil glide as he plotted and paused, hand to the door as he looked back at Wormtail. "You have done well, my servant."

Braced for a return bout with the Cruciatus Wormtail stared as it never came, the sound of the door closing behind the Dark Lord signalling he was free. A sigh escaped him in his relief and with the sigh the memory of a certain item he found slipped from his mind. Said item, a sword, vanished in the same moment from where he had placed it in his room after finding it deep within the catacombs beneath London. Within an hour the item was forgotten, vanishing from the memory of everyone who had chanced to see it.

* * *

In a room sealed deep within Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw shook her head at the image she had witnessed through the east facing Mirror of Viewing as Harry had called them. Giving the scene she had witnessed a few moments thought, Rowena decided it would be best if she were to see Albus Dumbledore immediately and let him know what Voldemort was planning. They needed to get a message to Harry and his team and warn them of the coming attack.

The image of a crimson long sword vanished from her mind as she turned away from the mirrors and left the room, moving towards the nearest flight of stairs and Albus Dumbledore's office.

* * *

20 July 1997 11:42 AM AD

For six days they had travelled, everyone doing their best to make the trip into the mountains as easy as possible. They only stopped for meals or for meetings where they needed to decide how best to circumvent major obstacles in their path. Harry sometimes flew ahead with Silvenestri, not only to see what lay ahead for the land bound travellers, but to also get in some flying time in to improve Silvenestri's natural skill in the air.

Tonks had taken to indulging her mood swings and Harry and the mother's in the group were often hard pressed to calm her down in those times. Not helping her mood was the fact that she now spent a half hour putting makeup on instead of only taking a minute to morph her looks to the way she liked them. And make up was simply no substitute for the morphing ability!

Harry had repeatedly tried to tell her that she didn't need to do this every morning and for his troubles had acquired an intimate knowledge of the couch in the main room of the truck at night. His saving grace came when the baby decided she missed her father's presence and let her displeasure be known to Tonks. Tonks had woken everyone up by storming into the living room and grabbing Harry by the scruff of his neck, dragging him to their room and screaming at him that he could talk to 'his' brat and convince her to let her mother get some sleep.

It was coming up to noon on the eighth day of travel and Harry was scouting ahead with Silvenestri while the others carried on slowly driving through a mountain canyon. It was bitterly cold with a stiff wind blowing and the visibility was not poor, at least to his eyes. Silvenestri did not seem to have too much difficulty in finding their way through the jagged peaks and tors.

/ Can you see anything that might block our path ahead, dear? /

Harry thought over his link with his silver mount, pulling the heavy fur cloak around his shoulders a little more firmly in an effort to fight back the bitter winds. His silver cloak was hidden beneath the heavy fur, but his armour had been left in the truck that morning. They had learned that in this cold the armour only increased the cold and was more of a hindrance that a help.

/ Nothing really. There have been a few rock slides, but there is nothing you and the others can't clear enough for a path… or I could move them easily enough. / Silvenestri tilted her wings a little to pull up into a hover, her long neck arched and her eyes focused on the ground far below.

/ Sounds like a plan. Let's loop back and rejoin the others. / Harry leaned back as Silvenestri dived for a moment, his fingers automatically gripping the harness as she rolled to glide upside down for a few moments then barrel rolled into an upright position. / Nice move. /

Silvenestri's jaw dropped into a draconic grin; she loved to fly! It was so much better than wandering around the world the way the human's did. Arcing into a turn the dragon settled into flight, looking far ahead in the direction from which they had come. At this distance Harry could see nothing beyond rocks, cliffs and more rocks, but Silvenestri could see much more.

One detail that she saw quite clearly was the large bluish shape flying rapidly to overtake the truck that was careering madly along the track in an effort to outrun the flying monster. The snow mobiles were nowhere in sight and Silvenestri roared, her wings slashing down as she dived, catching Harry somewhat by surprise.

/ Harry! There's a Norwegian Ice Ridge chasing the truck! /

/ Then let's put on a little more speed and chase it off! /

He stretched out along the sinuous neck, streamlining the dragon by blending himself into her shape as best he could; anything to gain a little more speed to reach his friends. The dragon snorted a puff of warm air into the freezing atmosphere and wondered how she would tell him the dragon had two riders on it's back and that it had dropped some sort of stone ahead of the truck, forcing whoever was driving to wrench the wheel of the vehicle and slam on the brakes.

Silvenestri could already see that more were on the way.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in any way shape or form.

A/N: Well here's another chapter of Dragon Lords 2 people. I do hope that you all enjoy it and leave lots of reviews, now once again sorry about the wait but my beta and the only one I trust with this story got swamped by her own work again but she is working on that problem and hopefully we can get back up to full speed. Enjoy.

Chapter 6: Rumble.

/ Telepathic /

20 July 1997 12:00 PM AD

Ron looked out of the front cab as the dragon flew overhead. The blue coloured scales and what appeared to be a ridge of ice spines running down its back shone in the afternoon sun, and two black robed figures riding its back did not help the impression of the trouble he knew they were in.

Holly, along with Ginny and Hermione, had broken off from the truck not too long ago on the snowmobiles in an attempt to draw the dragon off, but it hadn't worked. Now he and Arutha were stuck trying to out run a much faster moving beast whilst Tonks, along with everyone else, was in the back trying to work out how to throw the dragon off their tail.

Hermione, along with her mother and her best female friend, stopped on top of a ridge ahead of the truck looking back and down at the Dragon as it circled and came in low, trying to hit the truck and throw it on to its side. The truck swerved violently and the great beast beat its wings to gain height for another pass.

"They had to wait for Harry to go off on patrol before attacking, didn't they?" She slammed a fist into the leather seat glaring at the rising dragon.

"It's a good plan. We don't have anything to bring down something that size." Holly took up the hunting rifle mounted on the back of the snowmobile and sighted down the scope, studying the racing vehicles and smiling when she noted a few spells flying from both vehicles. "They're trying to fight it off."

"Not going to matter much." Ginny was studying the trail ahead through a set of powerful binoculars. "They have dropped a marker stone ahead. A waypoint stone I would guess, and chances are more are on the way in. I wish Harry had left us something to contact him in this sort of situation." She settled back into the seat of her snowmobile and they all started the engines.

"Silvenestri has sharper eyes and ears then we can ever hope to have and its odds on they are on their wayback. Harry did tell me they would always be keeping the truck in sight." Hermione gunned the engine to try and set off, trying to get ahead of the truck and set up an ambush on the Death Eaters that would, she was sure, be on the way through the waypoint stone.

"That won't matter if we can't stop that lot from attacking the truck and killing Tonks and the others. You know Harry is going to go off the deep end, and Tonks is the only thing that can stop him these days." Ginny shouted, pulling even with the other two and watching with a sinking heart as a dozen black robed Death Eaters appeared near the way stone.

"Enough talking you two. Just do the best you can and trust in the others to watch their own backs until backup arrives." Holly whispered a prayer to herself and hoped the time spent on the firing range at her country club would pay off in the coming fight.

000000000000000000000

Arutha had to admit when he woke this morning he didn't think he would be trying to out run a dragon. He was thankful for the magical help the others were giving from the back, and from Ron seated next to him.

"How long do you think can we hold this lot off without your friend and his mount?" He asked Ron, pulling sharply left on the wheel and managing to move the truck enough that the dragon missed them.

"I don't know! Harry will be here… when depends on if they sent anyone after him before hitting us."

Ron poked his wand out of the window and concentrated on firing a half dozen spells at the dragon as it banked and climbed for altitude, then came back in at them again. His eyes widened as he was forced to duck back into the dubious protection of the truck when a few spells were fired at him from the cliff and he cursed.

"More on the left!"

"I see them." Arutha sharply turned the truck left then right again as a jet of flame engulfed the place the truck had just been. "How's everyone doing back there? Any word from my wife and the girls?" He called out over his shoulder at the small window that opened over the kitchen sink.

"None, and we have no idea if Harry is on the way back." Minerva responded.

Tonks was behind the older woman, muttering and cursing that 'No Death Eater was going to take her baby' and she wanted to know how they had been tracked down.

"They would have been looking for us since we vanished off the map and chances are this lot simply got lucky. Calm down, Tonks dear, before you upset the baby."

Molly forcibly directed Tonks into a chair in the back while Hagrid stood at the open door to the back of the truck, his bulk filling the doorway and an oversized crossbow in hand. He took a shot at the dragon, missing it by a few meters as the truck was forced to swerve violently again.

"I am calm!" Tonks yelled.

Arutha rolled his eyes as he reached one arm behind him to slip the hatch closed and shut out the sounds of Tonks cursing in a less than lady like fashion.

"If nothing else, the girls got a good set of lungs on her." He chuckled and the red head next to him grinned a feral grin, too busy to actually reply.

In the back Minerva took up a post in the doorway, sheltered by Hagrid's massive bulk and kept up a constant volley of spells. The dragon did not always come in from an angle they could respond to, and there were the Death Eaters on the cliff to contend with. The Death Eaters were constantly apparating along the cliff line, keeping the speeding truck in range at all times and they all knew it was only a matter of time before the truck was upended by the swooping dragon. If Arutha failed to guess which direction to dodge just once, then it was all over.

Molly had her hands full containing Tonks whose disposition was only made worse by the fact that as at this stage of her pregnancy her magical power was steadily weakening, leaving her feeling useless and helpless.

"For Merlin's sake, they have to be driving us into a larger nest of them. They have to be working to a design here, that dragon should have had us by now." Minerva ducked down to avoid a spell, the magical energy shooting past her and causing a chair in the living room to explode in a shower of sparks and smoke. With a snarl in Tonk' direction Molly moved to the door, squeezing into the limited space to give their defenders a hand.

"We have no choice but to keep going. If we stop that dragon will take us out." Molly distracted herself by firing off a few spells, timing her actions with Minerva's and the pair made a good team, having a very good feel for each others style of magic. "Minerva, we have to think of something."

The Professor didn't get a chance to answer, instead-with widening eyes-she slashed her wand at the doors and knocked everyone back inside the truck. The space heated up quickly and, panting, the defenders all stared at each other before moving back to open the rear doors and extinguish the fires burning on the back of the truck.

"I do believe they don't want us alive," Minerva commented.

"Clearly." Molly fired off a few spells in rapid succession, smiling grimly when she heard a startled scream and watched as the figure of a black robed man fell from the cliff, "Got one!"

"Good. Only another eleven to go!" Hagrid mildly commented, firing another crossbow bolt off and grinning in a dangerous way when the oversized bolt hit the dragon.

The beast bellowed but it flew strongly, even if it did veer off and over shoot the truck. One oversized bolt was not going to bring down a beast of that size!

Arutha grunted with the effort as he pulled for all he was worth on the steering wheel, dragging the truck to the right in a tight turn. Ron's eyes were wide as saucers as the dragon's bellowed breath followed by a tail slap brought melted snow and rocks crashing down to form an effective barrier. The fiery breath continued along the cliff line, instantly melting snow and ice and dislodging an avalanche of debris, blocking their path.

With nowhere to go the truck slammed to a stop, thankfully clear of the avalanche. As the dragon bellowed a group of eight black robed figures apparated in and the dragon settled behind them, it's two riders dismounting and joining their comrade's ranks.

"This isn't good." He whispered, even as Ron leapt from the truck, placing the hood of the truck between him and the advancing Death Eaters, taking cover and waiting to see what happened next.

Arutha cursed softly, ducking down with his back to the door, knowing he wouldn't be much help as the only gun the team had was on the snowmobile Holly was riding.

As the truck slewed to a halt Minerva, Molly and Hagrid jumped out of the back and made quick use of the few large rocks for cover. On her way out of the truck Molly fired off a quick spell at the doors, causing them to slam and lock, locking Tonks within the protection of the truck. The young woman, in her condition, would be no assistance to them with this fight.

The Death Eaters stood in plain sight and made no move to attack the defenders. Everyone watched as one of the black robed Death Eaters detached himself from the group, and his voice echoed off the cliffs that surrounded them.

"We want the half blood whore that is carrying the Potter heir. Hand her over and we will let you all go." The voice of Lucius Mafloy was familiar to everyone except Mr. Granger.

Hermione, standing on the top of the cliff, narrowed her eyes at the sound of Mafloy's sirens voice and watched with her mother who was using the rifle scope to observe the scene.

"Damn it all, how did they find out she was carrying Harry's child?"

"Who knows? The question now is what do we do? They outnumber us at least two to one, dear." Holly shifted position a little, trying to get a decent angle on the Death Eaters.

She was not intending to fire a shot at the present time, unless she had to, as she didn't want to give away their position. The longer those in the valley below talked, the more likely it was Harry would get back in time to be of some use to them.

"And we are supposed to believe that Mafloy? Why don't you go back to your half blood master and take a few curses from him." Minerva called out, ducking down more when one of the other Death Eaters fired a curse at her hiding spot. "That's how much your word is worth!"

"I give you my word, Professor. I won't hurt, or kill, any of you if you send out my… niece." Malfoy motioned to the other Death Eaters, am imperious motion of a black gloved hand.

On the cliff above Holly snickered, shaking her head slightly at the somewhat sour look on the blonde haired man's face, visible to her through the high powered scope. "That must have tasted pretty sour."

Before anyone could shout a response a silver shape seemed to fall down the face of the cliff and crash into the Norwegian Ice Ridge, both dragons tumbling wildly out of control down the slope, narrowly missing the Death Eaters who scrambled to get out of the way. Bellowing in rage the great beasts tumble off the edge of land, vanishing from sight down the face of the cliff that opened out on their near side.

For a moment the tableau was frozen, all eyes on the point from which the dragons had vanished until the pregnant moment was broken by the snap of wings and a moment later the fighting dragons rose into the sky. Silvenestri darted in close, her jaws closing with an audible snap as they missed their hold on the other beast who was proving to be a nimble flyer.

Engrossed as they were with the sudden turn of events and the struggle raging in mid air, no one noticed the silver cloaked Harry jump from the top of the rock slide until he leapt atop the roof of the truck and down to the ground, sword in one hand, wand in the other.

"You talk too much, Malfoy." Harry grinned, even as he admonished himself to Silvenestri. 'I wish I had worn my armour on patrol. Going to have to remember to do that next time. Just in case.'

"Potter. My lord wishes to see the niece of his favourite servant… but he did say if you interfered we were to kill you… and anyone else who got in the way. Now step aside, boy, and don't interfere." Mafloy brought his wand up to point right at the boy who had been a thorn in his side for years.

"As if I'm going to hand over my fiancé to the likes of you and your half-blood master, Mafloy. Leave. Your heavy support is gone and this little raiding party of yours isn't going to be enough to take me and my allies down." Harry slipped his wand away and eased into a combat crouch.

Mafloy snarled, not paying the battling dragons overhead any mind. Silvenestri sent a cone of frigid air at the Ice Ridge's side, and the dragon screamed in pain and rage at the hit. She had scored the hit on its left flank and hind leg and the Ice Ridge retaliated by lashing out with its tail and twisting in the air. Silvenestri managed to back-wing in time to avoid the tail slap and the dragons darted off into the light cloud cover a moment later, the Ice Ridge trying to envelope Silvenestri in flames.

Tonks, who had been learning against the open slide into the back of the truck and had taken exception to being called a 'half blood whore', couldn't help but smile when Harry called her his fiancé. Her hearing was limited, but she had certainly heard that, and she gazed down at the ring on her finger. It was meant to be a ring to mark her as a member of his new Host, but during their two weeks away from the others he had told her it was to double as her engagement ring.

"Thank you, Harry. Please… come back to me." Closing the slide she retreated to their room, not wishing to hear the coming battle.

"Fine then," Malfoy looked sharply over his shoulder at the Death Eaters standing behind him. "Kill them all and bring me Potter's whore!"

The Death Eaters moved forward as Malfoy moved back to close with their ranks and a second later spells were flying.

Harry brought his sword up in a smooth snap and spun it before him, the shield it formed as it spun deflecting the spells as he jumped up onto the truck. At the same time his friends used the distraction of the Death Eaters aiming for him to fire off a quick volley of spells and taking down the Death Eaters who were too slow to duck for cover.

Silvenestri grunted as she dodged a jet of flames, folding her wings close to her flanks to drop down under the next fiery attack. The blue beast seemed to pick up a little more speed as it strained to catch the silver arrow that was Silvenestri.

/ This one is fast, Harry! Not sure if I can take her on my own, but I'll try. /

/ Do what you can; I'm a little busy at the moment./ Harry sketched a rune in the air before him as another dark curse came at his head, the rune flashing into defence just in time to stop the next two spells from taking him out of the fight.

Minerva, with Hagrid and Molly, were able to put up a heavy barrage of spells against a group of Death Eaters, attempting to get them and Ron was barely holding his own against two of the enemy wizards. For every spell he managed to fire off two or three were fired at him, his opponents clearly were not young inexperienced spell users. Harry watched as Ron ducked desperately behind the cover of the truck, sprang up and ducked immediately down to avoid a fourth incoming curse.

Seeing his dilemma Harry jumped down to Ron's side, narrowly missing an incoming curse and added his own spells and hastily drawn runes to the mix. The playing field evened, it was with relief that Ron watched as the Death Eaters dropped out of sight with a couple of moans and a scream.

Lucius swore under his breath at how badly the Death Eaters he had brought with him were being beaten. Already half of their numbers were down, paralysed or sleeping off various curses that had caught them and Potter was now standing in the open, a fierce grin on his face and sword at the ready.

Overhead both Silvenestri and the Ice Ridge clashed in a flurry of fang and claws. Silvenestri bellowed in pain as the blue dragon racked a claw down the left side of her face, fortunately missing her eye and she scrabbled against the glistening blue hide until her claws seized a grip on the dragon's neck. With mingles roars the draconic pair vanished from sight, plummeting once again down the edge of a cliff. None of the combating wizards payed much attention to the fighting pair, even when the ground shook from the impact of the great bodies as they hit the cliff face on their way down.

"Do you think your little pet can beat mine, Potter?" Lucius Malfoy grinned, moving forward, eyes narrowing when he noted the three women coming down on him, their Muggle transports adding to the din of the battle.

"I trust her, Malfoy, not only to win but to come back to me when she is done. I believe some time in the past you promised me a lesson in pure blood customs, and in return I promised I would show you how wrong you were. Let's have that lesson." Harry's feet shifted him into a combat stance and he crouched, sword raised, ready.

"Then let the lesson begin." Malfoy set himself in the formal duelling stance and spat out a sharply worded barrage of spells, one after the other, flicking his wand towards Harry.

Harry shifted his weight, allowing his stance and a single step to turn him away from the spells, his sword slashing back and forth with lightning speed to deflect the oncoming lesser spells. He spun to avoid the classic green toned casting of the killing curse, lips drawn back into a feral smile.

Two running steps and Harry launched himself up and over a huge boulder, taking shelter behind the rock to avoid another incoming montage of spells. With a deafening sharp sound of something breaking, the boulder he sheltered behind cracked beneath the onslaught and power of the spells and Malfoy laughed, a gloating gleam dawning in his intense eyes as debris exploded into the air, dust and dirt cutting visibility, steam added to the mess from a stray fire based curse as it impacted on a snow bank, filling the area with fog.

"Purebloods are better than Muggle loving fools, Potter."

"You really talk too much." Harry screamed at Lucius, leaping up just long enough to hurl his sword, not caring at the moment if he cut the man in half. This one, he was sure, was evil to the core.

Lucius Malfoy narrowed his eyes at sight of the whirling double bladed weapon. In stunningly quick succession he fired off killing curses, the most powerful spells in his repertoire, all of them aimed at the spinning blades heading directly for him. The first two spells hit the whirling weapon, slowing its flight a little and dropping its trajectory. The third shocked the watchers to the core as it impacted on the blade and in a flare of green light the left hand blade cracked cleanly before shattering. The fourth missed the tumbling weapon but the fifth and sixth spells impacted on the single remaining blade and with a sound not unlike that of shattering glass the weapon cracked and shattered.

All that made it to the head of the Malfoy family was a few metal shards and the hilt which bounced harmlessly off the shield he had erected. Dumbfounded Harry dropped behind a boulder, shocked that his blade had been destroyed, and Lucius Malfoy laughed at the destruction of Harry's weapon.

"Well, well. What will you do now, Potter? Your little pet is still busy and can't help you. She is more than likely dead at the claws and jaws of my little pet." Lucius laughed madly as a loud roar of pain echoed through the area.

Anxious, Harry's friends looked desperately around, hoping it was not Silvanestri they heard, but they could not see the silver dragon anywhere.

"Over confident, Malfoy! You don't know me as well as you think you do!"

Harry glanced around, feeling for the link with his dragon, sensing her pain but seeing, too, something very large slinking up behind Malfoy through the dirty fog created from the explosion, the super heated snow and the debris of the battling dragons.

"One thing I can say at the moment, Mafloy, is that as long as Silvenestri draws breathe, so do I!"

Harry slipped away from his cover, using his movement to keep Mafloy's attention as Silvenestri glided in and he hoped the cover would keep the identity of the oncoming dragon hidden. A second or to more… those by the rear of the truck noticed the shape of the beast moving in the fog bank and he wondered if they thought it might be the Ice Ridge. The thinning debris field showed a glint of silver hide and then she was abreast of the truck and almost behind Malfoy as he stalked Harry, grinning, sure of his victory.

Harry met that grin with a smile of his own, an expression of complete satisfaction and inclined his head, indicating the older man should look behind him.

Malfoy might have thought it was an attempt to distract him so that Potter could escape, but one of the few conscious Death Eaters screamed in terror and Malfoy turned in time to see a set of fangs coming at his head at high speed. It was lightning fast and the snap of draconic jaws was loud in the frigid air.

Everyone save Harry gasped and looked away as Silvenestri's claws sank into the frozen ground and she reared back, long neck snaking as she shook her head violently from side to side. Mafloy's scream of surprise turned to anguished screams of pain and fell silent as she worried at her prize. A moment later the dragon tossed the silent corpse vigorously aside and it flew through the air and over the edge of the cliff.

With a howling sob the last of the Death Eaters apparated and the icy battlefield was left to the victors. The silence was broken by the anguished sounds of the dragon as she drove her head into a snow bank, scooping in a great mouthful of ice and snow, working it around her jaws as she tried to get the taste of human blood out of her mouth.

They stood in shock, staring at the dragon scrabbling in the snow, driving her head again and again into the snow banks. Slowly, hesitantly, one by one, they moved to the edge of the cliff, looking carefully over the edge of the great drop, searching… and found the broken, bloody form of the man hung up on a rock outcrop well down the side of the cliff.

Malfoy was, without a doubt, dead. He would have been dead before he went over the edge, they were sure. His abdomen was bloodied and his head at an unnatural angle and no one was quite sure what to say.

Harry wavered where he stood by the avalanche, staring between the cliff, his shattered sword and the wailing dragon. Slowly he stumbled forward, his eyes finally settling on the remains of the sword. His mind was numb, the sword in pieces glinting on the churned up, blood stained ground.

He could not say how much time passed before he was aware of the dragon towering over him as she shuffled on unsteady legs, half collapsing as she pulled her haunches under her. It was simply unreal, too much for him to cope with, the sudden end to it all.

Over by the cliff side Ron shook himself and headed back for the truck, quickly unlocking the door and helping Tonks down. She stared around her, taking in the churned up ground, the blood and debris from the avalanche and the bodies of the Death Eaters. Even as she watched one stirred, looking dazedly about him before apparating with a sharp crack of rushing air.

"You'd better see to Harry." Ron glanced up as the door to the cab of the truck opened and Arutha carefully poked his head out, looking around to make sure it was all over.

"We had better restrain the Death Eaters." The ever practical Arutha decided.

"Yeah." Ron hesitated for a moment then headed for the nearest unconscious black robed figure. By the cliff the others were slowly turning away and heading back toward the truck.

The dragon hunched in on herself, rocking slowly from side to side, jaws half open. She seemed not to notice the ragged wounds, three slashing stripes of bleeding flesh running down the left side of her face. Her shadow lay over the shattered remnants of the sword, but Tonks was uncertain she actually saw the ruined sword or Harry. That he was in a state of shock was not in doubt and she wondered how much of it was his reaction to the sword and how much of it was a mirror of the young dragon's reaction to the fight.

Silvenestri never reacted as Tonks came close, blood slowly dripping down the claw marks to hang for a moment from a loose scrap of flesh before dripping free, to fall on a shard of Harry's sword.

"Harry." Tonks stopped two paces from Harry, dropping her gaze to take in the shards and purse her lips. "Oh Merlin. I thought that sword could never be destroyed… how did this happen?"

The sound of her voice seemed to have an effect on him and he shuddered, slowly raising his head and looking about him, staggering a step.

"I… It was… Nothing is indestructible Tonks. Not even a dragon scale sword it seems. There must have been… I don't know, maybe I made a mistake in the forging. It must have been flawed and the power of the killing curses… shattered it."

Harry crouched down to pick up the hilt that still had a few jagged inches of each blade attached to it. Shaking his head after a moment he threw the hilt to the side. "I'll just have to start over, that's all. Do it properly this time."

Tonks nodded slowly. "Yes, you had best do it right next time. But for now, what about Silvenestri, Harry? Don't you think she's waited long enough for you to come to your senses and see to her wounds?"

"Silvenestri? Silvenestri!"

A fog seemed to clear from his eyes and his head snapped up and back, taking in the shaking bulk of the dragon. Watching the group Molly snorted softly and motioned Hagrid, Minerva and the others to help Arutha and singled Hermione out to go and boil water.

"You've got more than just her physical wounds to deal with, Harry Potter. For all she is a dragon she's also practically a baby… and she just killed a man."

Silvenestri lowered her head for Harry and Tonks to get a look at the wounds she carried and the group fell to their assigned tasks. When they had cleaned up they could discuss what they would do with their prisoners and wait for Harry to decide what to do next.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in anyway shape or form, just the OC's are mine.

A/N: Hi all and welcome to another chapter of Dragon Lords, I have to say this chapter was fun to do and I can't wait to hear what you all think.

Enjoy

Chapter 7: Old Friends

/ Telepathic /

\ Parseltongue \

22 July 1997 13:33 PM AD

Ministry of Magic

Amelia Bones was looking over updated reports of resent Death Eater attacks and sightings scattered throughout London. The strange thing, she mused, was that the attacks seemed totally random and appeared to have no purpose other than to draw the Auror's away from the Ministry. To her it made no sense as she would never allow more than four of the eight units under her command out of the building at one time, even if it did stretch them thin; protecting the Ministry had to have a high priority.

Sighing she leaned back in her seat wishing she had a few more people enough for at least one more team, but three of her Auror's were off on pregnancy leave and Tonks' recent notification made that number four. Another six were in the hospital after particularly vicious run ins with Death Eaters or those working with the Dark Lord. Her options were diminishing and she was thinking of calling in as many retired Auror's as she could convince to return, but that was a last resort. Aurora's tended not to live long lives and the number who did survive who were crippled or handicapped in one way or another… Those people had earned their rest from fighting dark forces.

A deeper sigh escaped her, she had been sighing too much of late she mused, sitting up to reach for the next report, her head lifting when the door to her office was unceremoniously thrust open. One of the newer Auror's who had been rushed through training over the last few weeks panted in the doorway and he looked, she decided, a little sick, one hand pressed to his mouth suggesting he was fighting the urge to barf, something she sincerely hoped he did not do in her presence.

"Ma'am you might want to head to the main entrance… we just had over a dozen bodies appear near the fountain."

Reminding him about propriety and procedure could wait she decide, rising quickly and motioning him out of her way. He followed on her heels as she strode through the Ministry, his colour gradually settling though he looked anything but settled. They were too young, too inexperienced and too many of them would die.

"Are they all dead? How many injured and even better, any indication of who they work for?" She turned to him after allowing him to push the button for the lift that would take them to the main entrance, expectant, knowing he had to have noticed more than just a pile of bodies had appeared. If he could not tell her anything else it did not bode particularly well for his chances of surviving long. Auror's had to notice what others would miss at first glance.

"Well, one of them at least is very dead… He almost looked like he was bitten in half by something… large… that tossed him around like a rag doll before or after the killing blow. Another looked to have taken a nasty fall from a reasonable height judging by the angle and number of broken bones, including his neck. Another five looked to have been hit by rather nasty curse damage although one has a crossbow bolt in his chest." The young man drew in a ragged breath, composing himself, looking his boss in the eyes and taking a moment to assess his report. "Another seven individuals appeared with the seven bodies. These seven are alive and sporting various injuries. All of them are wearing Death Eater robes and masks."

"Sounds as if they may have attacked a group of guerrilla fighters and come off the worst for wear. Have you I.D'd any of the bodies?" Amelia fell to clearing her monocle as she stepped into the elevator, replacing it over her eye and glancing at the young man. There was hope for this one, she decided, despite his initial reaction.

"One… I came immediately for you when I recognised him. The one that looked to be mauled by something big was… Lucius Mafloy. A team is working to identify the others but I came to report to you. Mafloy had this driven into his chest… with this, ma'am." The young man handed over what proved to be a sheet of Muggle manufactured paper and a shard of what was unmistakably a broken sword.

Amelia took the sword tip, studying the silver shard of the blade closely. She had a feeling she knew what it had belonged to, and who, but determined to approach Albus to confirm her suspensions before commenting. It was not so much the sword as the note which piqued her curiosity. Guerilla fighters generally did not send messages back with their victims, especially not polite notes.

_Dear Madam Bones and Officials of the Ministry_

_Would your departments and leaders please explain how a man who has been caught no less than twice now and has been seen to be wearing the robes of a Death Eater robes now on three occasions, be found in command of an attack force of Death Eaters? Why was this man free and permitted to still do as he pleases in the Wizarding world?_

_My team and I had a very nasty surprise when Lucius Mafloy and his attack dogs attacked our team as we seek new allies to assist us in our war against the Dark Lord Voldemort. As we had no chance of avoiding the encounter we used what force was required to bring down those who were attacking us. Now we send them to you, those who survived and those who did not for decent burial, in the hopes that these people will not be released on some trumped up excuse such as mind control or anonymous donation to an equally anonymous bank account. _

_Should we encounter these attackers in the future be aware we cannot be held responsible for the condition in which the bodies may be returned to you._

_Have a nice and productive day_

_The New Dragon Host._

"Potter." The breath of a whisper, so soft that even her companion could not hear her.

The letter was so pro-light and anti Voldemort that, combined with the signature of the 'New Dragon Host', there could be little doubt as to who sent it. The team of Death Eaters had ambushed Harry Potter and his team and frankly Amelia was surprised so many had been returned alive to the auspices of the Ministry to deal with.

"I want all of the survivors confined in holding cells. Have their wounds treated in those cells but other than the healers no one is allowed to see them, not even the Minister himself, until they have been interrogated in my presence." She would have them questioned under veritaserum. "Have the dead taken to the morgue and inform the staff I want to know exactly what killed each one of them. I don't care if you have to call in a Seer and hold a séances, find out what killed them."

Amelia passed the sword shard and letter to the young Auror who caught the items after a little juggling, slipped them into a bag and placed them into a pocket of his robes before following her from the lift. The scene in the foyer of the Ministry was ordered chaos, a half dozen Auror's standing around the bodies of the dead, who were now covered by blankets to shield them from the staring eyes of Ministry staffers.

"I believe you have work to do, people!" A harsh glare started the staff moving, returning to their work and Amelia eyed the pile of bodies under blankets already staining red with blood. "Why are you all standing around? Tag them, process them and get them to the morgue. Move people!"

Amelia nodded to the Auror who had brought her to the scene, signalling him to carry out his instructions and watched as a group of her people moved to speed up the movement of the curious onlookers. Stretchers would be arriving soon to carry out the dead, and she glanced over at the bound survivors lying in various stages of injury under the eyes of another group of her people.

'Thanks for the present, Harry. Now come back alive and bring Tonks back with you.' She studied her people, noting who of the new Auror's displayed promise at handling such an unsavoury scene. It was messy work and more than one of them had already wretched and brought up their past meals.

Not that she could blame them, the stench was overpowering. Death was never kind and this was only the beginning. Her young Auror's were watching her and she would ensure they saw no weakness to cause them to falter.

000000000000000000000000000

At Hogwarts Rowena Ravenclaw appeared in the Headmasters office, briefly considering how much the room had changed since it had, a long time in the past, been Helga Hufflepuffs. It was a long time ago that the founders had lived and worked in Hogwarts and Rowena could not helping but think of her old friends. All of them, Helga, Godric, Salazar… they had crossed over long ago, Salazar being the last to go. He had told her he could no longer watch as his decedents tarnished and twisted his words to their own ideals.

It was lonely being the last, but she was not yet ready to leave Hogwarts. One day, but not today.

The old man who was now Headmaster looked up when she stopped before his desk, a small smile forming on his face. "What can I do for you today, Rowena dear?"

Rowena sighed and sat down in the chair to one side of the desk, her nearly solid form only sinking and passing a little through the chair before stabilising and giving the impression she was relaxed and comfortably seated.

"Harry and his team were attacked two days ago. They have sent what was left of the attacking team and a few survivors to the Ministry where Amelia is working through the mess. However, Minister Fudge is not happy as he has been informed that Lucius Malfoy was killed in the attack. Fudge is trying to find out who killed his main source of income. Why is that man still in power, Albus? He is corrupt and might as well be in Voldemort's pocket wearing his stupid fancy dress. Avoiding the truth will do no one any good."

Dumbledore sighed and rested back in his seat, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he considered that question. If his standing in the public had been higher at this time then maybe he might have successfully removed Fudge from his office, but as long as Fudge had half of the department heads on his side he couldn't remove the man.

"I can't help you with that one, Rowena dear, but thank you for the information. Hopefully he won't work out for a while that it was Harry and his team who killed Lucius. Where are our little adventurers at the moment anyway?"

Albus watched as Rowena slowly drifted to her feet and to the middle of his room, knowing she would drift down to her chambers, silently thanking his lucky stars that Rowena was willing to be his eyes and ears. There were few places the Ravenclaw could not peer into, including areas of Voldemort's base using the mirrors in her chambers.

"They have entered the mountains of Norway, I can not give you a better location than that. Harry has wards in place that block even my mirrors and I can not see the team's transports. His command of Runes is far more advanced than my own, even if I am a few hundred years older than he. His original training as a Dragon Lord no doubt accounts for that. I have studied much of what survives of the Dragon Lord's Rune Lore, but so much was lost and much, I fear, was mistranslated."

With a nod the ghost drifted through the floor before Albus could ask her any further questions. She would seek, once again, for the team's location and if she failed, as she feared she would, then she would once more peer into the Ministry and mark those new faces who filled her with dread.

Albus considered the floor for a long moment before, with a flick of his wand, he summoned a sheet of paper filled with the basic runes Harry had written down for him to work on. Harry had provided for him at his request the runes that, before now, past scholars had dismissed as meaningless or too difficult as they obviously related to something that was unknown to anyone but the extinct Dragon Lords. Harry had revealed to him that these half a dozen or so runes were some of the most powerful runes in the Dragon Lord's repertoire. The little scamp, however, only told him they were important, not their meaning and suggested it would do his old brain some good to work on the problem and had given him a few cryptic clues to start him off.

"I hope you're ok, my boy, after all I want to see what marks I earn from my findings on these runes. You are the only person who can mark it." The old wizard chuckled softly, making a note beside the first of the runes, following his comment with a question mark.

26 July 1997 17:34 PM AD

Six days after the attack Harry and his team were high in the mountains, with Silvenestri usually flying close to the truck as they slowly wound their way over the snow covered slopes. The snow never melted at these heights and they progressed only through the cautious use of magic.

The Silver Dragon's wounds were healing well, slathered with healing ointments and heavily spelled bandages so that they would not freeze or become brittle as she flew in the extreme cold. It was hard to convince the dragon to come to ground and even Harry had troubles getting her to land when they decided to stop and rest. She was restless, making up for the time she had been confined in human form on the ship and in the city, and Harry was sure while she was flying even in atrocious conditions she was not thinking of the battle and how Lucius Malfoy had met his end.

Harry preferred not to think about it too.

At the moment she was on the ground, soaking in the meagre heat of the large fire they had started, her bulk adding to the shelter from the wind provided by a high snow bank and rock outcrop. She was half asleep, her lids half closed but he knew she would be the first to sense any danger. One did not easily sneak up on a greater dragon and go unnoticed. They were all gathered around the fire taking comfort in each others company and enjoying the camaraderie found in what felt like an old fashioned camp out.

Tonks was leaning against Harry's side happily munching on a toasted marshmallow as she put more on a second pronged stick to toast over the fire. Everyone else in the party was likewise engaged, though they used only the one stick at a time and the atmosphere was the most peaceful it had been since the ambush. Harry had an arm curled protectively around her as he leaned back against a rock that had warmed nicely from the heat of the fire before they had settled to toast their marshmallows and take a well deserved rest. The Dragon was near him, her sides shifting in a quiet rhythm that was deepening and slowing as she drifted closer into somnolence.

"Harry, what will you do about your sword? I was… well, why did you leave all of the shards back where we fought those Death Eaters?" Ginny looked up from the flaming marshmallow she had pulled from the fire as she shook it back and forth to extinguish the flame.

It was easier to mention the fight now, though none of them dwelt on the subject for too long at any one time. They did talk about it, they knew it was not healthy to avoid the subject, but they chose to talk to each other in small groups and carefully.

"There isn't much I can do about the sword without the use of a proper forge. As to why I left the shards there… remember that Dragon Lords first appeared in the area now known as China. The Chinese, like the Lords of the past, believe that once a sword breaks the soul and the heart that had been crafted into it at the making of the blade is gone. As such there is no point in re-forging a soulless blade and I will not reforge that one. I need to start from the beginning to make a new blade; the blade will be forged stronger as I now know more than when I forged the first."

Harry sighed softly knowing he would have to wait to craft the weapon. Yes, he had enough of Silvenestri's scales from past moulting reserved for him to start, but finding a fully equipped forge… that was something else. Conjuring a forge and transmuting tools held the potential to contaminate the magic that would infuse the new blade and he was not keen on the idea of mixing differing styles of magic for something as deadly and precise as the forging of a Dragon Lord's sword.

"Makes sense." Tonks delicately pulled the latest stick of marshmallows from the fire, propping the newly filled stick into place to heat and, blowing gently on the gooey mess, sampled it delicately, humming softly in pleasure. "The problem is it will be a while before we get to a place where you can start to make your new and improved blade. I don't think we will find a fully equipped forge out here." She offered Harry one of her marshmallows which he happily took.

Silvenestri's head came up from its resting place in a sudden jerk, her head angling from one side to the other as if looking for something, her eyes peering into the twilight keenly. Harry caught it a moment after the dragon, straightening himself slowly, eyes narrowing as he stood and took a step closer to his winged bond mate.

/ Did you… Was that… You did feel what I felt a moment ago? Or… are we just imaging it? /

He did not see the unease pass through his friends as they saw his slightly glazed look, recognising that he was communing with the dragon. His stance was clear enough warning something had alerted the dragon to potential trouble.

/ I thought… I felt something… but… I must have been wrong. It's gone now. There is nothing./ Silvenestri peered into the twilight once again with senses other than eyesight, but lowered her head finally and everyone slowly settled, relaxing as the dragon's eyes lidded fully and she settled to nap.

"Sorry about that. Just for a few seconds there we thought we sensed something." Harry settled back down, drawing Tonks against his side and into his warmth once again. "Something that is quite impossible."

It was getting colder and they would need to go into their shelter for the night, but no one felt like moving as yet and Arutha threw another log on the fire and even a little oil that Minerva handed him which produced a magically hotter flame for additional warmth.

"What was it, Harry? It can't be too impossible if it had both of you up and alert that fast." Hermione glanced up from the book of runes she had been studying, one of half a dozen she had borrowed from Rowena's Library before they departed.

"It is impossible, unfortunately. I suppose its just because we are up this high and no one ever comes this way but… just for a moment we both sensed something that could almost have been another Greater Dragon. It's impossible as Silvenestri is the last of her kind, and her presence here is only because we travelled through time. Before any of you say I could be wrong, I know there are dragons in this time, but Greater Dragons… They are unknown to the magical community of now. Believe me, I have been keeping my senses open for any possible contact with Greater Dragons, but there has been nothing. No sign of them at all." Harry tilted his head to rest against Tonks and the young woman smiled up at her fiancé, kissing him on the chin.

"It is a big world out there, Harry, and there are lots of places to hide. Maybe you are wrong and there are others out there. Other dragons, without riders, who prefer to go unnoticed." Hermione set her book aside after marking her place and slipped a stick of marshmallows into the flame.

"I'm pretty sure…" Harry was cut off with a startled yelp, the sound echoed around the fire by others of the party as a blue blur flew across the fire and slammed into the side of Silvenestri.

The large Silver dragon bellowed in surprise under the sudden attack, heaving up and taking a hopping backward plunge as the blue 'what-ever-it-was' began to climb her side, moving up and down her bulk, heedless of the twisting beast trying to dislodge it.

"Harry…?"

Harry could only stare in shock and utter disbelief at the little blue dragon with a ridge full of spines running down its back as it playfully bit down on Silvenestri's neck. The silver dragon grunted and gave another shake, notably not too vigorous, trying to shake off the little beast. A third shake, harder but not intended to hurt the little dragon failed to dislodge the persistent creature.

"Ah, Harry… Isn't that…?" Minerva was on her feet, as were the others, staring at the miniature dragon in wonder.

Harry darted forward, eyes centred on the dragonet, estimating his size from snout to the tip of his tail and the length of his claws to the length of his leg. On the averages he had been taught by his old master and by personal experience with Silvenestri, Harry estimated the dragonet had to be near a year old. He was pleased by the spark of intelligence he saw in the brightly glowing eyes and how the sharp claws caught and held the silver scales at just the right places to effectively anchor the creature and enable him to ride out Silvenestri's every attempt to dislodge him without hurting him.

And the dragonet was, without doubt, a male.

"It is, but… This is impossible! I would have sensed him before he could get any where near this close to us!"

Harry moved forward carefully, well aware Silvenestri had had enough of the little dragon babbling away non stop in Parseltongue about its delight at finding a new playmate and other largely unintelligible nonsense. The dragon heaved her shoulders to one side and twisted, her head snaking back, huge teeth clamping gently on the writhing blue tail and she peeled the little dragon off and tossed him into a snow bank, quickly taking a few steps forward and planting a massive clawed foot firmly down, intending to pin the pest.

The little dragon was faster slipping out from under the foot, peals of dragon laughter echoed in the twilight as he scampered out of reach and with his wings beating furiously he leapt, diving in again to lock his teeth and front claws high on the leg that had just come close to pinning him.

It was doing nothing for the silver dragon's temper that the stupid humans were laughing so hard it looked like a few of them would topple over into the snow! And that stupid idiot she called her rider was one of them!

"Get him off!" Silvenestri punctuated her scream at Harry with a bellowing roar, shaking her leg furiously.

Harry tried hard to wipe the smile off his face but it simply was impossible. Gaining some control of himself he dodged the flailing silver tail.

"Well, if you would keep still I might have a chance of doing just that!"

Silvenestri hissed at him but her writhing stilled and he was able to hoist himself up the silver leg, careful of the little blue's claws and teeth though the creature seemed too intent on having fun to mind his presence. Reaching carefully around the silver's leg he ran a hand gently over the blue scaled head.

\ Shhh, little one. Calm down now. She'll play with you later but first we have to remember our manners, don't we? Won't you tell me where you come from, little one?\ Harry hissed, slipping easily into Parseltongue.

The young dragon clung to the silver scales but his eyes were bright and shone even brighter as he inched forward, extending his snout to sniff at Harry. The promise of a playmate seemed to calm him down and he never reacted to the rather dirty look Silvenestri favoured Harry with for promising she would play with the annoying brat. Harry ignored the look, more concerned with coaxing the dragonet to some form of acceptable behaviour as far as dragon younglings went.

Harry scratched gently along the lower jaw of the dragonet, slowly lowering himself down the silver leg and the dragonet followed, raising his head to better allow the light scratching. When Harry stopped to step off Silvenestri's foot the little creature hopped off in a flurry of snow and thrust his snout up for Harry to continue the caress.

\ Playmates! New playmates! Playmates!\ The little dragon hissed, ecstatic with his discovery and in a lightning fast move he leapt at Harry, toppling him into the snow and began to slather Harry's face with a drool laden tongue. Harry 'erked!' and grasped a firm hold on the creature's head, making him stop.

\ Calm down already! \Harry heaved himself up to a sitting position, securing a good grasp on the two small horns on the back of the dragonets head, enabling him to hold the creature firmly and ignoring the seemingly hysterical laughter of their audience.

\Play! Play, play play play play!\

\Not now, little pest. Who is your carer? What is your name? Where did you come from? \ Harry asked, aware Silvenestri had brought order to his maniac friends by the simple expedient of translating what he was asking the little beast.

\ Spark, Spark, Spark! Spark! Spark! Spark!\ The little dragon swung his head from side to side in an attempt to get free of to Harry's grip.

Harry rolled his eyes. \Spark is your name?\

\Spark!\ The dragonet hopped in place, looking inordinately pleased with himself.

\Okay, you are Spark. Now where did you come from Spark? Where is home?\

Another full body shake forced Harry to relinquish his hold on the dragonet who, quick as a flash, jumped back, switched around and with a flip of his tail launched himself right back onto Silvenestri's front leg and started to scramble toward her back. The silver dragon let out a horrified bellow and was quick to snag the little dragon by his ridge crest, dropping him to the ground and planting her foreleg firmly on him. She was horrified that she only just managed to catch him before he was out from under her foot and she was quite astounded at how fast the little pest was.

"Well, I know I was not this dumb at his age!" Silvenestri snorted, easing her foot back a little as Spark began to whimper at the unfair treatment and holding him at bay with a well placed and gently, but firmly, applied claw. The dragonet amused himself by gnawing on the claw and wrapping his hind legs and tail around her foot whilst alternately butting his head against her foot and nipping at the pad beneath her claw.

"No, you were worse." Harry shuddered at the memory and the sheer thought of looking after another young dragon before it had developed human level intelligence. And this one was so damned fast!

"I was not!" There was no doubt Silvenestri was horribly affronted at the idea she was less than the intelligent lady she was.

"Anyway, I managed to get a name and that's about it. Everyone say hello to Spark."

Silvenestri adjusted her claw a little and the dragonet almost succeeded in squirming out from under her. She secured his tail and in a flash had the blue terror playfully biting at the knuckle joint of her claw. With a yelp she shook him off.

"Did you manage to get from him where he came from?" Holly moved a little closer to where Spark was almost bouncing on the tips of his claws as he considered the group watching him.

Leaving the silver dragon, who was proving to be less than entertaining in his book, the dragonet darted toward the group, swerving to circle Holly repeatedly, making small almost chirping sounds that morphed into soft hisses when Holly carefully extended a hand and rubbed gently along the base of his head near the closest horn.

"He's like the energizer bunny on steroids!" Hermione giggled, drawing confused looks from the wizards in the group and setting Harry howling with laughter.

"His mind isn't that developed at the moment. His concepts are pretty basic at first, like knowing his name…all Greater Dragons know their name when they are born…when he's hungry and a few other basics. As to the location of his cave, any other dragons and such… Not yet. God, I'm going to have to teach another dragon from scratch!"

Harry fairly wailed his dismay and set everyone off laughing again, everyone other than the affronted Silvenestri who looked even more offended for all of thirty seconds before she remembered a few of her exploits at a very young age. Still, the most she could manage was a short snort that was a draconic chuckle before she remembered that she was still insulted.

"Spark, you little scamp! Where are you?"

During their entertaining meeting with the dragon a mist had darkened the twilight and the voice, low and female seemed to come from all directions at once and throb through the air. The dulcet musical connotations inherent in the woman's voice seemed to have an odd effect on every male in the group other than Harry. The men, looking slightly dazed, turned as one, all facing the same direction though the voice had seemed, to the women, to come from all directions.

Harry whistled softly, eyes wide. He recognised the timbre and throbbing attraction in that voice and knew they had an immediate problem. Looking quickly to Holly and Molly he motioned to Arutha who was closest to Holly.

"You might want to get a hold of an ear or two at least. I'll let you lot decide who gets to hold Hagrid while we speak to our visitor. I'd know that tone of voice anywhere."

Molly pursed her lips though she grasped Ron's ear quickly enough, and Holly secured a hold on her husband whilst Minerva calmly swished with her wand and floated up to Hagrid's height and grasped his ear, waking him up from a daze.

Molly, recognising the symptoms, looked to Harry with a frown. "Surely it's too cold here for Veela?"

"You will find Spark over here, my old friend!" Harry called into the mist. "I must say it' an unexpected pleasure to hear your voice after two thousand years!"

Tonks started, eyeing Harry in surprise and doing some hasty thinking before her eyes widened and she glanced quickly at Holly. "Not Veela!" she whispered, marvelling at the set of circumstances which led them to this point in time and place where they would meet an old friend of Harry's.

Emerging into the firelight from the mist, which seemed to be growing heavier with every passing minute, stepped a young woman dressed in furs against the bitter cold. Why she wore furs for warmth was lost on Molly as the very shapely young woman was covered only at breast and hip, a long sword hung at her hip, the naked blade seemingly carved from ice. Either she was that cold in her scanty furs that she was blue with cold, or she had naturally blue skin, Holly thought, and her hair was as white as newly fallen snow. Her eyes might have been ice crystals and they were wide in surprise as she stared at Harry whose eyes dipped to the faded scar on her exposed abdomen as though he was confirming something he knew he would find.

Watching the blue woman Tonks knew that was exactly what Harry was doing, confirming the identity of someone he had known far back in the past. She was wildly striking to look at, and she moved with a stalking grace that riveted every male's eye to her.

"You were telling the truth Harry." She stood in front of him, one small hand rising to rest lightly against his cheek.

"Hello, Kirenna. You don't look to have aged so much as a day since we parted ways."

Harry gently took her hand from his cheek and kissed the back, stepping a half step back and gently drawing Tonks close to him, sliding his arm around to rest on her hip. Tonks, understanding what Harry was doing, inclined herself to rest against his side, lifting a hand to rest against his chest. The pose was clear to all watchers and the light blue skinned woman studied them for a long moment.

Kirenna smiled and nodded, accepting the tie between the two before turning to pointedly examine each of the watchers.

"Time has not the meaning to my kind that it has to humankind, you know that Harry. I am thinking it would be best to move this conversation to a warmer place so please, follow me and I will escort you to our village. I understand now why the irresistible scamp left so abruptly. However, Spark is late for his meal and a hungry youngling is not a pretty thing."

Bowing gracefully and sweeping a hand before her she turned and walked into the mist. As the mist closed in over her the men in the group seemed to shake themselves awake and the women looked to Harry. Grinning widely Harry nodded and with a swish of his wand he doused the campfire and walked into the mist.

"Stay close together and ladies, keep a tight hold of your men."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in anyway shape or from

A/N: Hello all and welcome to another chapter of Dragon Lords 2, it's been a while in coming and I'm sorry about that but Wolf and even Raven's rise has been running for me as of late and I didn't want to let those two plots run off on me again as such this got delayed but hopefully you'll all like and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Ice Nymphs.

/ Telepathic /

\ Parseltongue \

26 July 1997 19:27 PM AD

It took a few hours but with Kirenna and Spark leading the way the group soon found themselves entering a canyon that offered welcome shelter to the group from the bitter wind that was blowing. It was clear the canyon would offer reasonable protection from the incessant wind and the frequent heavy storms that raged through the northern climes. One wall of the great canyon revealed a many cave openings, many boasting rather solid looking doors and a few of the smaller openings claimed a veneer of ice crystals, making them windows.

Harry calmly looked around them as they walked deeper into the canyon, ignoring though fully aware of the gathering scantily clad women gathering to watch the newcomers. All of them claimed light blue skin and either ice blue or snow white hair. Only their eyes suggested the human species with colours from light blues and browns to jade green and gray, their beauty was otherworldly and alluring. Here and there amidst the gathering women could be seen little girls who hid behind their mothers legs shyly, each child claiming the blue skin and hair of their mothers.

Minerva 'tutted', exasperated at the effect the Nymphs were having on the men in the group, firing a spell at Hagrid to stop him from wandering toward a large group of Nymphs who had no young children or obvious teenagers amongst them, and moved to join Harry.

"Why aren't you being affected by their charm, Harry? The ladies and myself I can understand as the charm is to attract a mate, but you aren't even phased by them."

"I have the advantage of an old contract with the Nymphs. It states that anyone who has bonded with a Dragon will not be affected by their charms, that and the fact that Silvenestri's very presence gives me immunity to the charm. Give it a few hours and Mr. Granger and Hagrid should be fine, but Ron is pure hormones at his age so someone had better be with him at all times just in case." Harry glanced over his shoulder at Ron who had been pulled back to the group by his mother after an exasperated comment or two from Ginny who had restrained him only a few moments before hand.

Minerva nodded and turned away to help in any way possible to keep the men close, whilst Tonks levelled a stare that promised painful death at some of the Nymphs who were looking at Harry as though he was a piece of prime meat. The force behind the stare was such that the Nymphs backed a little at her protectiveness and Harry smiled at her, dropping a kiss to her forehead.

"Spark, dear, why don't you go and eat with others, hmmm? The girls have missed you." Kirenna addressed the blue dragon who bounced around the group enthusiastically before taking off towards a large cave situated further up the path. A group of teenage seeming Nymphs giggled, one vanishing into a cave and appearing a moment later carrying a large bowl piled to the point of overflowing with chunks of raw meat.

"Where did he come from Kirenna? I haven't sensed any Greater Dragons since I returned from the past and believe me, I tried to find more. How did you hide him?" Harry picked up his pace a little to walk at Kirenna's side, Tonks only a step behind him and keeping one of his hands securely in hers.

Kirenna smiled and with a graceful motion of her head led everyone toward a door set in a cave close to the middle of the cliff. They had been walking up a narrow path, winding up the canyon wall at a gradual gradient and Silvenestri, in human form, was pushing through them to stand as close to Harry as she could get, given Tonks was not inclined to let him go. The Nymph opened the door and motioned for them to enter.

The heat from the cheerfully blazing fire in the hearth cut into solid rock wall greeted them as they shuffled in, and their hostess smiled encouragingly at them and motioned to the chairs dotted about the room.

"A fire? Little out of place isn't it?" Arutha murmured, now that he was away from the large number of Nymphs he was able to fight off Kirenna's lone aura. He looked from the fire to take in the simple wooden and fur lined furnishings, a door leading to what might be a bedroom to one side and a second door which might have been a closet or perhaps a bathing room? The bare stone walls were adorned by a few pictures depicting spring fields and snow laden winter forests.

"Just because we can survive in below zero conditions doesn't mean we have developed no taste for creature comforts," Kirenna waved everyone toward the fire, bade them make themselves at home while she saw to making some drinks for her guests. "I have to admit I have developed a taste for falling to sleep next to the fire with a good book."

Settling down involved the choosing of seats, prime choice being closest to the hearth, where Kirenna swung a huge cauldron over the dancing flames, placing it carefully so as to heat its contents without burning the base before moving back from the hearth to sort out cups for so many guests. Silvenestri, keeping her attention attentive to every move the Nymph made, took a seat in Harry's lap quite possessively and Tonks chose to sit next to him, pulling a cushioned stool closer to do so. By the time everyone arranged themselves as close to the fire as they could get and still leave room in case they needed to spring into action, Kirenna had brought a tray full of cups and began handing them around.

"I hope hot chocolate is to your liking." Watching as pleased smiles lightened the faces of her guests the Nymph picked up a heavy ladle and gave the warming pot a careful stir.

"Alright, Kirenna, the proper aspects of greeting guests are dealt with; we are comfortable, the drinks are warming our insides as your fire warms our outsides and your dinner is beginning to smell wonderful. So which of the questions are you going to answer first, the how are you? Or the where did Spark come from? Or perhaps how did you hide him from my senses?" Harry sipped his cup of cocoa, a small smile curving his lips when Kirenna smirked at him and after a moment pulled the rough hewn coffee table from the middle of the room to a point closer to the fire.

"I have been living, Harry, and I have had two children since last we met, both of whom are living in the human world as our eyes and ears here in Norway. In these modern times we must be more careful to guard our existence than in the past. The humans of today are not as the humans of the past and we have learned to guard ourselves. Other than for the need to be careful to keep ourselves and our home secret we have, I think I can say, prospered. I am now the only one of my sisters remaining who has served a Dragon Lord, and as such I have had the honour of having Spark and the others placed in my care." Kirenna paused when Harry looked up from the fire, his eyes eager.

"Others?" Hagrid beat Harry to the question, an eager light in his eyes and they were all staring at her with interest.

"Yes, others. Spark was the first dragonet hatched of the four and we have a further two eggs in our care. The dragon young are well, you need not fear for them, the four stones on my mantle tell me so." Kirenna motioned to the six small rocks set on the carved stone that formed the mantle.

The blue, black, bronze and copper stones glowed softly, the light pulsing gently from each was reminiscent of a heartbeat. A red stone and a silver one, whilst they glowed quite visibly in the low light of the cave, did not pulse like the other four.

"Who placed the eggs in your care? One of the Dragon Lords, or was it one of the Greater Dragons?" Harry dropped a hand to lightly caress Tonks' arm as she leaned against his side.

Tonks knew him well enough by now to read his mood and knew that this was, in Harry's mind, a good discovery. She was well aware how Harry had worried for Silvenestri, thinking her to be the last true Greater Dragon in existence.

"Both. One of the last of the Blue Lords came to this village and left in our care his hope for the future. Four eggs placed beneath heavy enchantments to suspend them in development and stop them from hatching until another Dragon Lord should appear. A few hundred years passed and it was close to the time of the battle known to the few humans who knew of it as the Battle of the Cliff, that two female Greater Dragons came to us and left in our care their eggs, enchanted as were the other four. To our confusion we were informed these eggs would not hatch until a new generation of Greater Dragons is born. Now, with your arrival here, I understand. When your dragon lays an egg in the fullness of time, these two eggs will also hatch." Kirenna stood and moved to the hearth, lightly running a finger caressingly over the red and silver stones. "They sleep, awaiting that distant day."

"Makes sense. The dragons were hardly fools and chances were the Ministry was hunting them to the breaking point, even after the Dragon Riders were wiped out." Harry leaned back in his seat, his arm moving to circle around Tonks middle.

"I thought all Greater Dragons bonded with a human." Hermione looked thoughtful as she sipped her drink, absently clipping Ron over the back of the head when his attaching drifted from Kirenna's face down towards her chest.

"Not so. Perhaps as many as ten percent of the Greater Dragons would bond to a human. Most of them chose to work with their bonded brothers and sisters. Legend says it was the closest thing that the Dragons had to a Queen, a greatly respected female Elder, that started all of this Dragon Rider business. A human with the Parseltoungue ability saved the life of her hatchling whilst she had been engaged in battle with some elves. The human child saved her daughter and, as a reward, the Elder Female offered her daughter to the human as a bond mate and friend to protect him in return for protecting her." Harry spoke quietly, leaning forward to place his now empty cup on the floor and forcing Silvenestri to jump from his lap and sit in front of the hearth. It might have been imagination, or not, that the little girl began to purr softly in the heat.

With his lap now free Harry pulled Tonks onto his knee as he considered the stories and history his old master had taught him. "Over the years the two, dragon and boy, grew closer than the bond should have allowed. When the Queen realized this she made an agreement. As her daughter was becoming a servant to the human because of this bond, the new agreement gave the Dragon the right to keep her own free spirit and magic. In return the human would have his lifespan revised, expanded to mirror the life of the dragon. The human agreed and the first real Dragon Lord was born. In time other Greater Dragons made similar pacts, generally for similar reasons, with humans and the human dragon partnerships proved adept at battling the elves and keeping them out of their lands."

Kirenna nodded and set her empty cup next to her, "Things carried on this way for many years, even by the lifespan of we of the mystical races. In time the Dragon Lords found allies and servants in the other oppressed races, the Ice Nymphs, Dwarves and Goblins come to mind and a few races who have long since vanished from this world to seek new homes."

"At one point the elves decide that the growing numbers in opposition to them on the borders of what is now China, was not a good thing. A decision was made to raid one of the villages in this region, a villager close to the border, and they left no one alive. They staked out those they killed as a warning to the 'Lesser Races' not to oppose them." Harry spat out the words 'lesser races', flicking his gaze over everyone in the room and those who were not Muggles were reminded that this was the attitude the current Ministry was demonstrating. Not the massacre, but the condescension of other magical races, just as the elves had so long ago. "That single attack was really the spark that started the war. However it was the Dragon Lords who were claimed to be responsible for the war as it was their growing strength in magic and a marked preference for violence, displayed with increasing instances, which culminated in the elves attacking."

"They should not have drawn first blood though. I mean, were the Dragon Lord going to attack the elves or was it the elves seeing a threat where there was really none?" Ginny glanced over at Harry with a questioning look.

"Well, that's the thing… The elves were right. Understand, it was a different time, a brutal time, and life was considered cheap. Back then China wasn't heavily populated, there were no large centres of living, just rural communities and some rich farming lands. The Elves tolerated a few humans initially, but over time human numbers increased, slowly but surely, and initially the land was under the auspices of the Elves. Had the elves not attacked, the Dragon Lords would have as they had coveted the land for a long time. They had been pushing at elvan borders, not declaring war but stirring up unrest, planning to make a move to claim the lands as their own. When you live a relatively long lifespan these things can take generations to come to a head, but when it does… The Elves took action, taking the initial blame for the unrest though it was the Dragon Lords who later, rightly, were said to be at fault. It might have settled down after one or two disputes, but the Dragon Lords won a few victories, claiming lands and then they made a concerted effort to take over. The Elves gathered their forces and pushed them back and then continued to push. The Dragon Lords could see themselves losing more than they had gained. It was a time of vicious, terrible battles that lasted for many years, and in the end, the Dragon Lords wiped them out." Harry sighed, eyes dark with memories of a long ago time and people long dead, places long lost to time. "Enough of this. It's ancient history. What is the health of the four hatchlings, Kirenna and what are the names of the other three?"

Kirenna pulled herself from the memories that Harry had awakened and after a stir of the pot and gathering everyone's cups moved to the kitchenette, a small alcove carved into the solid rock wall, hidden behind a hide curtain. They watched her prepare a new round of drinks as she spoke, the curtain hooked to one side of the doorway.

"Spark is the oldest by a day, the only male of the four. The three girls were born the next morning, a full twenty four hours following Spark. The black we called Obsidian and she is a little head strong, but she listens well to orders, unlike Spark."

"He's a boy," Silvenestri deadpanned. "He won't listen to anyone unless it benefits him in the way of food… or in this one's case, sex or food." Silvenestri hooked her thumb at Harry who graced her with a look that clearly promised stiff words and possible punishment later.

Kirenna laughed aloud peeking back into the sitting room and winked at Tonks. "When I first meet him I would have called her a liar, but seeing that his mate is carrying a child at this time I am afraid, Harry, that I have to agree with her. You are after all a typical male. No matter the race, it is sex and food that are of importance to you."

"Oh, for the love of all that is holy…!" Harry glared as Tonks laughed at him, in fact all of the women were laughing, though the males in the room seemed anything but amused. "This coming from a bloody Ice Nymph? What did I do to deserve a dragon with a sense of humour to match yours, Kirenna?"

"I still love you though, honey. That should be all that matters." Tonks whispered into his ear and Harry laid his head against her shoulder and buried his face against her neck, murmuring so that only she could hear that that was all ne needed, for her to love him.

Kirenna with her tray entered the room, the Nymph walking around to give everyone a cup of hot chocolate. "The Copper we have called Lillian, as I remembered you telling me of your mother, that it was her name and derived from a flower. And finally there is the Brass. We call her Helga, after one of the women you spoke of, something to do with a magical school, I seem to recall?"

Harry found everyone staring at him and Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "You spoke of the future, Harry? Didn't I warn you that bad things could happen when Wizards meddle with time?"

It could be dangerous, Harry knew and understood their disapproval, but he shook his head with a wry twist of his lips. "I was stuck in the past with no one to talk to and before the people who had anything to do with Hogwarts were even born. I made Kirenna swear an oath to never speak of what we discussed before I told her who I was, where I came from. I told her only a little of the background information on Hogwarts. I trusted her to keep her word."

"I have kept that promise I made to you, Harry. I used the names to name the Dragons only because with their birth the memories of you made me quite melancholy. Anyway, it is time we left the past behind. What is it that brings you to these mountains?"

Before anyone could answer a tapping drew everyone's attention to the small ice filled window where the diffused light revealed Spark's head bobbing up and down, making the diffused light dim and brighten in turn. The dragonet bounced, head butting the ice yet again and the Nymph sighed softly.

"What does he want now? After eating he should be sleeping, not bouncing around out there. He is an escape artist, that one."

She moved to the door and as it began to open the small blue dragon barrelled into it, knocking the door and the Nymph back and he slipped through the gap. A blue streak shot across the floor and right into Silvenestri, his charge giving him enough force to knock the girl dangerously close to the dancing flame as he crawled up her slender frame and began furiously licking her face.

"NOT AGAIN!" Shrieks from beneath Spark filled the room.

Small hands secured a grip on the dragon's head and Silvenestri managed to restrain the squirming bundle of blue hide and tongue in much the same manner as Harry had earlier. The dragonet squawked in outrage at the restraint but the girl held firm, surprising everyone but Harry, Tonks and Kirenna with her strength.

"Damn boys...! No brains at all." She muttered, levering herself up carefully despite the struggling creature, holding firm to Spark's head.

"Play nice, dear." Harry laughed softly. "You were just as bad."

He was clearly enjoying the discomfort of his wing mate and his grin only widened at the glare the silver haired girl delivered that suggested he was of comparable stature to a worm. The break in her concentration proved costly as Spark took advantage of the slight slackening of her grip and pulled free, starting to push her back and forth with his head as if urging her to stand up.

"We have come to bring back the last of the allies of the Dragon Lords, Kirenna."

His feet came up off the floor and onto the large chair, tucking Tonks tightly against him as Silvenestri tried to escape Spark by crawling behind them, the silver haired child cursing his name as he effectively blocked her from her sanctuary. Kirenna, watching with amusement, skipped to the door and opened it, Silvenestri positively growling as she ran for the open space. Spark was hot on her heels, clicking his claws in a scrambling dance on the stone floor, his hind legs sliding out from beneath him as a rug shifted as he ran, but the dragonet did not so much as pause.

"They should be fine for a few hours. He has proven to be quite the handful, but she should put him in his place soon enough. She will likely get the girls to team up with her against him and his behaviour should begin to improve." Harry snickered madly as Kirenna closed the door, cutting off the chill draught.

"I do hope that will prove to be the case. He has proven to be difficult to control for all of us." Kirenna sighed softly, having witnessed Silvenestri change into her true form and tackle Spark before the door closed. She was sure the dragon would drag the youngling into the large cave where she could undoubtedly smell the other dragons had their nest in their improvised den. "You seek the Forgotten City?"

"Yes." Harry inclined his head, watching her intently as one hand rubbed gently over Tonks' belly.

"It is known to us, of course and can be found to the north; or rather the ward stone marker that one of your kind used to hide the city, lies to the north."

"Thank you for the information, Kirenna." Harry rose from his seat, careful to keep a firm grip on Tonks then turned to set her in his seat before walking to the Nymph and pulling her into a quick hug. He stepped back from her after a moment and sighed. "Do you or one of your sisters have a forge and the where-with-all for some quality metal working?"

Kirenna laughed, nodded and catching him by his shoulder when his face brightened and he made for the door, asking where the forge could be found.

"Not tonight mister. If you are anything like the way I remember you to be when it comes to a forge, you will wish to begin working immediately and will not cease until you pass out. In the morning I will take you, and anyone else who wishes to go to the forge. We give you free access to do the work you need to do, but not tonight, Dragon Lord. Tonight you must all stay with me as my guests. I hope the ladies will not mind bunking with me and if you will not permit my sisters to entertain your men they are quite free to fight over the couch and chairs in here. We do not have much in the way of guest quarters as no one ever visits us."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I saw the children, Kirenna."

"Well, few visitors come our way, and we share our beds willingly." Her smile was quite feral, evil Ron later described it. "Before we eat, ladies, come this way."

Kirenna motioned toward the nearest of the doors and Hermione and Ginny, along with the remaining ladies, including Tonks, followed her to her bedroom. Harry was quite sure with the use of a little magic they could all be made quite comfortable and he would need to put wards into place to keep the other men safe from hunting Nymphs. They would be considered fair game.

It was a pleasant enough night, the meal the nymph had been cooking over the fire proved to be a hearty warming stew, and since everyone was quite tired from the days exertions it was not long after eating that the group said their goodnights. Silvenestri had not returned but Harry was not concerned, nor was Kirenna and the Nymph retired with the women.

Once the men were alone and a silencing ward had been placed on the bedroom by Harry, he sighed softly and pulled a deck of cards from his pocket.

"So them, I don't know about you but I'm not quite ready to settle down yet. Who wants to play me for the couch? Best out of three?"

A round of laughter lightened everyone's mood as he shuffled the cards and they settled on the floor before the hearth. Best of three rounds to see who claimed the couch and then they could either play for prime positions near the hearth or try to sleep on those backless stools Ice Nymphs were so fond of.


	9. Chapter 9

Diclamer: I don't own Harry Potter in anyway shape or form.

A/N: Hi all and welcome to another chapter from Dragon Lords 2, I have to say sorry for the wait as writers block and real life kept on getting in the way of this chapter as well as the chapters for my other fics, hopefully I'll be able to sort everything out at some point in the near future and really get back into writing these fics as that is what I really enjoy doing.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9: The Past.

/ Telepathic /

\ Parseltongue \

27 July 1997 10:27 PM AD

Late the next morning found Tonks sitting up sharply when the baby decided that she wanted to say good morning to both her mother and her father.

"Damn it all." Tonks said sharply at the sharp kick in her kidneys, "Settle down little one, we'll go see daddy in a few moments." She looked around the room to see that she was the last one to wake up and Kirenna was standing to one side watching her calmly.

"Good morning, Lady Tonks," Kirenna murmured, giving a slight bow to the younger woman who returned her greeting with a nod. With a small smile she calmly moved up to Tonks' side and placed a hand on her rounded middle. "The others are out exploring the village or playing with Obsidian and the other girls. Spark is sleeping off a night of playing with Silvenestri, or that is what I'm sure he called it. I have to say, you have a very active child, a strong child, on the way going by that kick." She made a small cooing sound at the kick against the palm of her hand and Tonks smiled before starting the laborious process of getting her enlarged frame out of bed.

"Where's Harry? Our daughter seems to want to say good morning to him." Tonks asked, slowly climbing to her feet and waving her wand with a quiet incantation, to summon up her clothes to her side and started to dress.

Kirenna turned her back to give the young woman some privacy and seemed to think on the question for a few moments before glancing over her shoulder at Tonks.

"He's more than likely down in the forge. I understand he took with him a large pile of silver scales and said something about not making the same mistakes as last time."

"Would you show me the way there after we have something to eat?" Tonks asked, fastening her robes and turning calmly to face the Ice Nymph who nodded and turned to the kitchen to start work on something for them both to eat.

An hour later found the two women slowly walking down to the base of the cliff the village was build into, pausing to say good morning to Minerva and Hagrid who were sitting back enjoying the view and the friendly atmosphere.

The entrance to the forge was a simple cut into the rock and ice, much like the other doorways on their way down. Sitting to one side of the door was Hermione, a book in hand with a second book sitting at her feet. Every now and then she would look down at the book next to her, flick through the pages and give a nod at what she found, then return her attention to the book she was reading from.

"Morning Hermione, what have you found to read?" Tonks enquired, moving to the side of the young woman and thinking to herself that Hermione was really filling out in all the right locations now. 'She was just a late bloomer.' She thought whilst smiling down at her.

"Kirenna gave me one of her books, but it's in a very old script. Luckily I remembered to pack my book of languages in the truck that dad brought in an hour ago." Hermione said without looking up.

Pointing behind her towards the doorway where the sounds of bellows could be heard above the whistling of the wind blowing above the protecting rocks of the village.

"Harry is in there and he has already started to melt down the scales for his new sword. He's been at it since sunrise."

"Ok, then I'll leave you to it, but remember to get to shelter if it starts to get too cold for you. Can't have you coming down with the flu can we?" Tonks moved passed the young woman who nodded absently and went back to her book, Kirenna a step behind her as they entered the forge.

To Tonks the inside of the forge didn't look like something the Nymphs would have made. The stone was polished smooth and the stairs leading deeper down into the cliff looked to be cut for someone with shorter legs than the Nymphs long, well toned legs. Tonks looked over the walls carefully as they headed down towards the sounds of hammers followed by grinding coming from deeper down.

Kirenna noticed her attention, the way her fingers trailed across the smooth surface and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "Dwarves. It was Dwarves who constructed this place before they moved on to another world. The humans of that time were trying to get them to make weapons and amour for them. Weapons made by Dwarves would be of such quality that they would make an army equipped with them unbeatable."

The young Auror just nodded her understanding and followed along as Kirenna pulled ahead of her. "How long ago was… ?"

Tonks' question fell away into stunned silence when she saw the great forge ahead of her. Huge fires burned throughout the wide furnace area, but deep down the canyon that plunged away into what should have been deep darkness, was lit by what appeared to be a magma river at the bottom of the canyon.

Ice Nymphs could be seen on the other side of the canyon which was bridged by a large stone bridge arching out over the deep divide. The skin of the Nymphs on the other side was dusted with ash paling their colour, making them a deep grey colour. They bustled about, putting sand into buckets and then those large stone buckets were pushed into a raging furnace. As one bucket entered the furnace another bucket could be seen emerging from the other side of the large, open mouthed furnace and the melted sand was quickly poured into what Tonks thought were moulds of spear heads and sword blades. Nymphs bustled about, working to make sure that nothing went wrong in the poring of the glass casting.

"We took over this forge over two million years ago, when the dwarves departed. Before then we lived above them as a first line of defence, or that is how they viewed us. Now we use the forges here to craft our weapons and armour from the finest sand that can only be found deep down. Harry should be in the chief smiths shop, over there to the left." Kirenna started across the bridge, Tonks only a step behind her.

After a few minutes of dodging between working Nymphs and the hot furnaces, the two of them walked through a doorway in the main cave's wall. They entered a much smaller cave boasting a much smaller scale furnace and a fully stocked forge and smithy shop. Harry, dressed in heavy leather pants and a thick leather apron over his bare chest, worked at stoking the furnace. He peered into the glowing coals, his hand firm on the lever that allowed him to pump the bellows at a steady pace. A large stone bucket was set into the glowing coals and half a dozen gleaming silver scales floated around his head and, as they watched, one of the scales was thrust through the heat and smoke coming from the furnace and settled into the stone crucible.

Harry inclined his head to watch as a blazing stream of what looked to be liquefied metal emerged from the lowest part of the furnace and trailed in a burning line to fill a mould encased in a sand bed. Harry flicked his wand which had been tucked into the band of the apron and the stream of molten metal stopped, the furnace plugged by a wad of sand and clay.

Harry glanced up from the latest ingot he had made from melted silver dragon scales. "Morning, love. How did you sleep?"

"I was doing well until our baby decided that mummy needed to come and see daddy and indulge in a morning hug," Tonks moved up to Harry's side and the young man pulled off his apron off and pulled her into a hug.

"Well then, I had better say a proper good morning," Harry smiled kissing Tonks lightly, only to have her wrap her arms around his neck and hang off of him with a small sigh of content as he rubbed her middle. "I wasn't going in for full body contact, love. I'm filthy; hot and sweaty, but if you don't mind…"

He laid a grimy hand against her middle and rubbed gently and the baby seemed to enjoy the attention paid to her as she gave a few more kicks and settled down.

"How's it going anyway?" Tonks asks after a few moments of just enjoying being in Harry's arms, even if he did smell of sweat, fire and smoke at the moment.

"Slowly, but its getting there. I have to make sure the scales melt just right, otherwise I have to start over. It's a delicate process, slower than the mass production the Nymphs are using. I have enough scales for what I need to do, but it's a laborious, time consuming process melting the scales and getting it right. I've only got a few ingots at the moment and it will probably take…" Harry pursed his lips and considered the scales and the cooling ingot in the floor before shrugging. "Maybe a month to make the sword to the point where I don't need a forge to finish it."

He stepped back from Tonks, gently moving her to one side and began to write runes in the air over the cooling ingot, infusing the new metal with magic.

"Can we spare that much time?" Tonks asked, watching as Harry cast a mix of runes and modern magic into the stone crucible, in its nest of flames the scale they had watched enter the bucket now visibly softening and with a flick of his wand he set another scale into the furnace. "I mean that would definitely mean that you will miss the start of the school year."

Harry studied the fire for a long moment and reached up to pump the bellows and after a minute cast a spell to keep the bellows working at his preferred speed. "I know, but it is necessary. As long as Ron and Ginny knuckle down and do the work Minerva plans on setting them while on the road, then those two should be fine. Hermione and I have studied the seventh year books and beyond, for which I have to thank my current level of knowledge and understanding on you, Dear." Harry turned to face Tonks again and led her to a couple of seats set to one side of the forge.

"I suppose that we make do, especially if Minerva has agreed." She paused for moment and then smiled. "It just means we can celebrate your birthday without worrying about how much ground we covered in so few days. Kirenna, do you think we could organise a big party in just four days?"

"Now wait one minute…" Harry stared after the retreating backs of Tonks and Kirenna with a sinking feeling. Their heads were bent close together and his plans for a quiet, and hopefully intimate, birthday with Tonks flew out of the cave along with them. "Great. Just great. I'm going to be twenty four technically, and they want to plan my seventeenth birthday party… Not what I was hoping for… Why me?" He asked of the air before sighing and turning his back on the chairs where he had hoped for a cuddle and maybe just a little necking session.

Like it or not he was going to have a party.

00000000000000000000

29 July 1997 14:00 AM AD

The next few days passed with little in the way of excitement. Ron had been brought down to the forge by Harry to work off some of the stress of being tempted by the Nymphs who would have loved to give him a new type of education. The young man worked well with what little metal the Nymphs had, learning to craft mostly simple knives and daggers, Harry's protective eye keeping the Nymphs at bay and Ron safely out of trouble.

Hermione and Ginny took to reading and spending time with Kirenna when she wasn't engaged in helping Tonks plan for Harry's birthday party. Minerva, along with Holly, were also helping with this planning while also keeping one eye on Arutha and Hagrid, both of whom were getting better at resisting the Nymphs natural charms… to the Nymphs disgust; they took it as a challenge

It was heading towards late afternoon when Tonks decide to sit in a well padded chair outside of Kirenna's front door and enjoy the view. Kirenna joined her after a time, deciding to watch over Tonks where ever possible, her old training to serve a Dragon Lord compelling her to do so, though it was not the only reason.

"I have been reading Harry's old journal from when he was in the past, and he spoke highly of you, Kirenna, yet he has not mentioned anything in it about the day you left. There are no details; it just states that you left… What happened that day?" Tonks asked softly, rubbing her stomach gently and looking to Kirenna as she sat beside her with her legs tucked in to keep them off the narrow path running along the cliff wall leading up to the houses of the Nymphs.

Kirenna smiled, a small tilt of her lips, and nodded, "I suppose you deserve to know. Do you want to grab that red book I have seen Harry writing in… I know it holds a piece of his mother within it."

After a moment Tonks inclined her head and went into the rooms they shared to fetch the book and a muggle pen. Tonks settled back in her chair and wrote in the diary, Kirenna shifting closer to look over her shoulder and peer at the pages.

'_Good afternoon Lil Has that son of yours been writing to you?_'

'_Afternoon Tonks dear, yes my son has been talking with me. He said something about needing a little under a month to craft his new sword and that the Ice Nymphs had sent scouts out to assist you in finding the city, making your job a little easier.' _Tonks looked at Kirenna who nodded at this information. Harry had not said a word about it to the others.

'_Wel,l that was nice of him to let us know that titbit of information. Anyway, as you know about Kirenna she has agreed to tell me what happened on the day they parted ways. Harry's log doesn't have any information on it, and she thought you might be interested.' _Tonks wrote down looking at Kirenna who nodded and sat back.

The Nymph composed herself and began to talk, slowly and picking her words carefully, so that Tonks could write them down for Harry's mother to 'hear'.

_Flash Back_

Harry and Kirenna stood side by side, looking out at the sea that divided England from the mainland, or what would someday become England. The Ice Nymph was dressed in a pair of tight leather pants and a vest that showed off her breasts nicely, as some men had phrased it, whilst leaving her arms bare save for a pair of bracers.

A sword of magical ice hung from her left hip, one hand resting absently on the hilt as she looked at the sea, and peeked periodically at Harry, who was dressed in much the same manner, only he wore a white shirt under his vest. His twin bladed sword was strapped to his back but he was more than skilled enough with it to have it in hand within the blink of an eye should there be a need.

The two had been travelling together for four seasons and in that time their friendship had grown stronger. Kirenna, however, still owed Harry a dept for saving her from the slave traders and stopping the cavern traders and their guards from abusing and raping her more than they had. As such she wanted to pay him back somehow, but he never seemed to want anything from her.

"Your boat will be leaving tomorrow… Are you sure you'll be able to find the village of your sisters on the mainland?" Harry turned to face the direction of the small fishing village further down the road.

They had already visited the village and arrange passage for Kirenna to the mainland, and were now just standing on the cliff overlooking a rather spectacular view, made more splendid by the last sunset they would share together.

"It shouldn't be a problem Harry, so doesn't worry." Kirenna turned to follow him as he started back toward the village as the last of the sunset dimmed and for a few minutes they walked in silence.

"You're right, I apologise. Its not like you're a little girl." Harry finally spoke as they reached the village and the Inn on the outskirts.

He held the door open for her and she nodded her thanks, the pair of them heading immediately up to the only room that was available in the entire town. Harry had already told her she could have the bed and he would take a place on the floor. Even after a year together his curious ways defeated her. She simply did not understand him; he was unlike any other human male she had met on her travels.

Later that night Kirenna stared at the ceiling of the room. They had settled for the night and she lay still, listening as the hours passed to the restless moving of Harry lying on the drafty wooden floor as he tried to get to sleep.

"Harry… Are you sure you don't want to share the bed? I would be more than happy to." Kirenna whisper broke the silence and she watched as his emerald eyes snapped open, his head tilting enough to look over at her, but without his glasses she knew that she would looked a little blurred to him.

"I'm sure. Get some sleep. Your boat leaves at sun up." Harry whispered, closing his eyes and turning his head away from her once again, trying to get to sleep himself but finding that even with his bedroll laid out the floor was very hard and uncomfortable… and there was a shocking draft leaking up through the cracks, bringing with it the stale reek of beer, preserved fish, sea brine and unwashed bodies from the main room of the inn.

Kirenna bit her lip for a moment before she slid her feet to the floor and she left the bed. Walking over to Harry's side she knelt down next to him as his eyes opened, looking up at her with a questioning look.

"Something the matter, Kirenna?" He levered himself up onto his elbow on the make shift bed, frowning slightly.

"Yes. I still owe you for saving my life a year ago, Harry. Now my honour demands that I pay you back." Kirenna sat beside Harry and without warning leaned her amply curved body into his, her lips reaching for his… and his hand on her shoulder stopped her, pushing her back gently but firmly.

"I have told you before; you don't need to do anything to pay me back."

Harry moved to sit up properly only to be pushed back down as Kirenna threw a leg over his hips to pin him down. Her hands rose to caress the sides of his face and she breathed what might have been called a purr.

"I know I do not HAVE to, but I WANT to repay you, Harry. For just one night I am willing to let you do anything you desire to do to me. My reward to you for saving me, I have no other thing that I can gift to you." Kirenna whispered, leaning in to try once more to kiss him… and again she was stopped by his hands on her shoulders.

"Kirenna, you are beautiful and sensual, and really quite wonderful, but I have told you before than my heart belongs to another. To someone who I plan on telling my feelings once I go back home. Please stop."

Harry managed to leaver himself up enough to force Kirenna off his lap and onto the floor beside him. The Ice Nymph threw back her head and whined, before tilting her head to the side so that her hair was out of her face and she could look at him.

"Understand, that is THEN, Harry. This," Kirenna stood up in a fluid movement and before Harry could so much as blink the shirt she had worn to bed slid from her body, leaving her body quite bare. "This is NOW, Harry."

Before the shirt could hit the floor Harry had already turned away.

"I am offering a night of passion and pleasure such as you will never know with this human woman. If what you have told me is true, and you come from the future, then this woman you speak off will never know."

She leaned forward, her hands slid around Harry's head, curving under his chin, forcing him to look around and at her. A blush raged on his face at sight of her voluptuous form and she smiled, sultry, seductive… offering him the freedom to do whatever he desired.

"I can be as gentle as any woman you might dream of, Harry. For one night… would you really turn me down?"

Looking Kirenna in the eyes, his own emerald eyes firm even as his blush threatened to ignite the floor with its intensity, Harry pulled his blanket from his body and wrapped it around her naked form.

"Yes. Yes, I would turn you down. My heart belongs to another, to Tonks, and even if it turns out that she doesn't feel the same way about me, I will accept that and watch over and protect her as best I can; for as long as I'm alive. Nothing you can offer me will ever equal the love I feel for her. Kirenna, what is lust and pleasure without love and passion?"

Kirenna regarded Harry for a moment, staring into his eyes, reading there the intensity of his passion, the firmness of his resolve.

"You really would watch her marry another, have another man's children, at the cost of your own happiness. You would turn down a night with a being that any normal human male would kill for. .. All for the love of this woman. You are a man too good for this world, Harry." She stood slowly, turning to face the bed and allowing Harry's blanket to pool on the floor beside him. "If you will not take a night of pleasure then know that if what you say is true, I will replay you in the future. I will stay alive to repay you in this future you seek with this human woman."

Harry watched Kirenna standing proudly with her back to him for a long moment, then slowly stood and wrapped his arms around her narrow waist, carefully, so that his hands would not touch what had been offered to him and he had refused.

"That I can accept. In the future I will hope to meet you again, and know that in those distant days I will not take you as a servant, but proudly proclaim you a friend. You are my friend, Kirenna, and I am proud to call you such. In the future when we meet again, I will be proud to name you amongst my greatest of friends and companions."

A sound he had not heard from her before broke the stillness of the night. It was a sob, but not one filled with sorrow and despair, as he had heard after her nightmares, but something else entirely. Kirenna spun around in Harry's arms, pressing her naked charms against him, her arms thrown around his neck before he could move, and she buried her face in the juncture between his neck and shoulder as she sobbed.

"You are the first human to ever call me a friend, Harry Potter. My old master saw me only as a servant and treated me as such. Every other human saw me as a slave and treated me as such, the lowest of the low, less than their hunting dogs. For that… For that… Thank you." She trailed off, leaving Harry to stare at the cracked shutters sealing out the cool night air, wishing he could somehow divest himself of her naked form, but she was holding on to him as though her life depended on the security of her grip.

"Shhh, its alright. You are free, never to be bound as a slave to another again. Keep yourself free, Kirenna. It is the only gift, and the greatest gift, I can give to you." Harry buried a hand in her hair, thinking that the safest place to put his hands and catching a glimpse through a crack in the shutter of the sea lit by moonlight. When finally she lifted her head he smiled as best he could. "Get some sleep now. Your boat leaves with the tide and my search must go on."

Kirenna nodded; biting her lower lip for a moment and learned forward, kissing Harry on the cheek. Once again his face flamed red and he ducked his head. "I look forward to the day we meet again. If not in this life then in the next, but know I will do all in my power to remain alive to meet you in this future you seek."

Without another word she left Harry, returning to her bed and bundled herself in her own thin blanket. With a low sigh Harry returned to his sleeping mat and dragged his blanket over himself. The tide would turn with the dawn and that was not so many hours away and then he would part ways with her and, once more, be on his own.

He was already lonely.

_End Flash back_

Tonks slowly lowered the pen staring at the page as Kirenna's words were absorbed into Lily's diary. After a long moment she looked to the Ice Nymph and found her staring down at her feet.

"I left his side the next morning, never to see him again in that lifetime. It was not until he was a marked by that mad man that I saw him again. I met Lily and James once, when they were on their honeymoon in Paris. The moment I meet them I knew he was telling me the truth so long ago. He was from the future, these people would give him life and after that I did my best to watch over him. Whilst he was living with his Aunt and Uncle I healed the worse of the injures he was given from those who should have loved him. I healed him without him knowing, watched him as best I could through the wards… My way of paying him back for saving me from the slave trade."

Tonks looked out over the village, her eyes slowly drifting back to Kirenna's still form. "He loved me so much that he turned down a night with you? Something… Anyone else would cheat on their wife and lover for a night with you."

Kirenna nodded and looked away from Tonks as she heard the younger woman slowly get to her feet. "He turned me down and gave me most of what little money he had to help my journey when I reached the mainland. He said that his heart belonged to you and that no matter what you decided he would protect you. After meeting you I can believe he would do such a thing, but then, in that past time, I vowed to myself if I learned his tale was true, and you turned him down, then without his knowledge I would slaughter you."

Tonks murmured a soft sound, a hand lightly touching the Nympys hair, a caress and slowly turned away. She started down the path toward the Forge.

"Excuse me, please. I have to take care of something."

Kirenna nodded slightly, watching as Tonks waddled away before rolling her head to see and pick up the diary. Taking a deep breath she began to write in it.

"_I am pleased to talk with you once again, Lily… We have met before. The last time we met I was the woman who said that the future would be brighter than you might possibly imagine. You were on your honeymoon with James, in Paris, and I told you that your son would be destined for great things._"

"_Ahhhh. I remember._ _So that is what you meant… I am pleased to be able to speak with you again and I would like to thank you for looking after Harry. I am sure that you watched him after his birth, I know if our places had been reversed I would not have been able to walk away. You were near when he was with my sister and her husband?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Thank you, from the bottom of my heart._" The words appeared slowly in the diary and Kirenna nodded at them, well aware the spirit of the woman could not see the gesture and looked down to the base of the canyon and the village; she just caught sight of Tonks entering the cave that led to the forges.

"_I think Tonks is going to give Harry a reward for turning me down that night so long in the past._" She wrote after a moment.

"_So long as she doesn't over do things in her condition. He would have earned it after proving how devoted to her he really is, even before they started to see each other on the romantic side of things,_" There was a pause and Kirenna looked at the page, feeling through the magic that bonded her to the diary at this moment that Lilly was not finished. She waited, patient and the words finally appeared.

"_I know it is a selfish thing to ask, but ask I will. I am his mother and it has been a very long time since I held my child. Would you watch over them for me and protect their family from anyone who would bring them harm?_"

Kirenna did not so much as pause in her answer and the nib of the pen was quick to contact the paper. "_You need have no fear of asking, Lily Potter. Harry may not like it, he calls me his friend, but he is more than that to me. To me he is a friend, yes, but he is also my master. He has been since the day he stopped me from rewarding him with my body. His family will be safe under my watch, no matter the price I need to pay to see it so._"

"_I thank you then, Kirenna, and know that when you cross over some day, far in the future, that I look forward to sitting back and talking with you… even if the rest of my soul does not know it yet._"

Kirenna nodded at Lily's words, closing the diary as she had the feeling that Lily Potter no longer wished to talk.

"I will look forward to that day, but for now I am needed here. Now that I have found him, now that he knows me once more, I pray that day will be a long time in coming, but I will enjoy our talk."

Rising from her seat with the book safely tucked under her arm, the Ice Nymph contentedly made her way into her home to place the diary with the belongings of her Master and his Lady.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in any shape or form.

A/N: Hello all, just proof I am still alive and kicking if only just... real life sucks some times you know that, plus writers block in all my fics at once is a pain in the backside.

Anyway that is one of the reasons why this is so late that and the fact that my niece is just to dame cute for her own good and I just can't stop dotting on her.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter of dragon lords 2 and know that I am trying to get more chapters done for my other works just not having much luck at the moment but I well get their even if I have to shoot my current muss and breed a new one.

Enjoy

Chapter 10: The Birthday and New Blade.

/ Telepathic /

\ Parseltongue \

31 July 1997 17:00 PM AD

The next two days passed with little activity. Tonks' reward to Harry was the promise that she would let him 'knock her up', as she so quaintly phrased it, a total of four times and not three as she originally had said. Of course, if she ever had twins that would count as two of those allocated.

Harry spent most of his time when awake in the forge, working on his new sword. What surprised everyone who visited him was that not only was he working on the sword, but he was crafting five new cloaks. Whenever they questioned him about theses cloaks, and who they would be given to, he would smile and say it was a surprise and that they should wait and see what he had planned.

On his birthday Harry was, once again, working the forge, one eye always on the door to the little smithy shop, well aware that Tonks and Kirenna had planed something for his birthday. He was watching the door more closely than normal, as he wasn't much of a party person after his trip back through time.

It was towards the end of the day and Harry had just finished hammering out one of the bars of metal into a blade like shape, a blank, knowing he would have to take it up again in the morning but feeling pleasantly tired. He put the partly completed blade into the hot coals once more, heating it again to the point where it was ready for work, when the slight clearing of a throat made him spin quickly, smithy hammer in hand poised, ready to throw.

He relaxed when he saw Hermione, noting her small smile and winced. Fine reward that would have been, nearly caving her skull in with a smithy tool.

"I'll have to remember not to do that again, I might not be so lucky next time." She calmly stepped back and to the side though she remained behind best friend, not offering to help but taking the opportunity to admirer his toned and well muscled form. 'Working in a forge is paying off. If he was single I might have considered trying to go out with him.' She thought, keeping her smile in place as Harry shook his head and began cleaning up the small smithy shop he had been given.

"Let me guess, they are ready for the party for my 'technically' twenty third, or was it twenty fourth?... birthday. Pain in the ass, trying to keep track of time in the past."

Harry inspected the sword blank before dipping it in carefully measured movements in a pale of cold water before inspecting it again and setting it carefully aside for later work. He emptied the bucket in a concealed drain in a shadowed nook and finished putting the smithy in order before turning to Hermione. With a sigh, he really did not want a fuss made, he led Hermione out of the smithy shop and into the main forge complex before they moved out into the cool air.

"You would guess right, Harry. Tonks and Kirenna have set up a nice little party, just the group and Kirenna though. The rest of the Nymphs aren't invited, so it's just your family. Silvenestri also says to let you know that 'that little pest of a rut won't be coming to the party' as he is being watched by the three girls." Hermione finished with a laugh at the sight of Spark being penned in by the three female greater dragons, Silvenestri sitting off to one side looking down at them like a proud older sister.

"That's nice to know. The little guy is just full of energy. I'm going to have to talk to the Nymphs who are feeding him. It's got to be something in his food; I don't recall Silvenestri ever being this bad." Harry commented, more to himself than Hermione, who nodded to him and led the way up out of the village and to the small clearing just outside the villages ward. The truck was parked near a large bonfire, the fire being the first thing that they both saw on approaching the camp.

Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Weasley were standing to one side with a large BBQ set up in front of them, the two women seeming to be in some sort of contest to see who could cook the perfect steak in the least amount of time without the use of magic. Mr. Granger and Hagrid were seated near the bonfire, a bottle of whisky being passed between them as they talked and built on their already solid friendship.

Tonks, along with the others, was seated at a large table set up to one side of the fire, a small pile of presents set near the head, Harry smiled, accepting defeat graciously and shook his head, moving to join the larger group, leaning down to kiss Tonks cheek.

"Thank you, Love."

Before she could answer the sound of wings alerted them all to Silvenestri's approach. She came in to land just outside of the bonfire's sphere of light, her great silver head gleaming as she approached the lighted circle and she hummed softly in greeting.

\ Happy birthday, Harry. \

Harry inclined his head to her to acknowledge her silent greeting, and he stepped around Tonks to take his place at the head of the table. Hagrid and Arutha moved to join the others, each wishing him a happy birthday as they approached.

Smiling broadly at everyone as they approached, Molly and Holly joined them at the table, each carrying a large tray of cooked meat which they placed in the centre of the table before taking their individual seats. Harry looked around at his friends, and at Silvenestri's large form dwarfing everyone there, and realised he felt wonderfully content.

"Thank you all for doing this. Now let's eat! I don't know about the rest of you, but I work up quite a hunger in the forge." He beamed a wide smile at everyone as one of the largest steaks flew from the tray and onto his plate.

Laughing and nodding they all turned to the selection of food available, filling their plates and joking quietly amongst themselves. Tonks leaned in close to his side, "Happy Birthday, and you had best understand right here and now, that I plan on celebrating your birthday ever year like this. With good friends and good food."

Harry smiled and inclined his head as he, like everyone else, filled his plate and feasted, enjoying the respite in the war and the company of good friends.

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31 July 1997 18:40 PM AD

Voldemort paced back and fourth across the length of the meeting hall. Bellatrix knelt to one side having handed him a report on how circumstances were developing for their forces. So far his Death Eaters were losing rather badly. With the loss of some of his elite members in the battle of Hogwarts, as well as the death of Lucius Malfoy over a week ago… and his son wasn't anywhere near as skilled as his father had been in getting information from the Ministry...

"How are the new trainees, Bellatrix?" Looking over his shoulder sharply at the kneeling woman, his displeasure was obvious.

A small smile was offered to her master. "Well, my lord, another week or so and they will be ready to face the useless Aurors of the Ministry and win, no matter what they do. I can guarantee that should they fail they will know true pain at my hands." The smile quickly grew into an insane laugh at the thought of inflicting pain on any who failed her master.

"Very well. I want you to head off with a few of the trainees and attack the blood traitor's homes. Feel free to bring back new test subjects, but otherwise do as you please."

Voldemort turned away from her, dismissing her and moving towards his main chambers, leaving Bellatrix nodding and happily skipping off to gather her team together. It would be fun to pay a visit to a certain red haired family she really wanted to take out. Traitors to Wizarding Blood needed to be taught their place.

Within his chambers Voldemort walked over to a dusty, dilapidated book set on a table. A great deal of researching and searching had led to a few deaths of particularly scholarly wizards, and he had even been required to perform a little tomb robbing before he had acquired the volume. Simply titled Ancient Dragons the pages within were faded, torn and, in some cases, missing. From the brief look he had taken on first acquiring it, the volume suggested to him it was as old as the Ministry of Magic, and possibly written when they had declared war on the Dragon Lords. Possibly. He had yet to authenticate it, but within its pages could lie valuable information on the Dragons and, better still, information on the Dragon Lords style of magic.

A fierce smile slashed his lips apart, more of a grimace than an actual smile, not that there was anyone present to witness it. "The next time we clash, Potter, I'll have the advantage. After all, if the likes of you can learn to control this magic, then only I can understand and perform it better than you could ever hope to."

Voldemort laughed, head thrown back, imagining the chaos and destruction he would bring to those who foolishly opposed him. Settling into a high backed great chair he pulled the volume towards him and began to read, his smile only growing wider and more vicious at the information disclosed.

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31 July 1997 20:17 PM AD

Harry's birthday party had been a hit with all of the participants and a few hours later found everyone settled in the common room of the abode on the trucks back. Silvenestri, in her human form, was happily seated in front of the roaring fireplace, humming softly and clearly happy with herself. Her training of the much younger female dragons was going well, very well, Harry gathered through his link with her. She was almost purring with her content.

Harry was seated next to Tonks, swathed in the warm folds of a new Weasley jumper and reading one of the new sets of books that Hermione and her parents had given him. It was ironic really, and quite fitting, that they had given him for his birthday the complete set to date of Anne McCaffrey's, Dragon Riders of Pern.

Everyone was sitting around enjoying the silence made up of the distant howl of the wind beyond shelter of the rock escarpment, and the slight rumbling purr coming from Silvenestri. Ron and Ginny seemed to be hovering on the verge of sleep, safe and relaxed in the warmth of the common room whilst Hermione read a book in the corner. The adults, with the exception of Tonks, were playing a friendly game of cards with Kirenna being the dealer.

Tonks was engaged in writing in Lily's diary, informing her of how the party had gone and what everyone was doing at the moment. She paused after her latest entry, looking up at Harry and leaning in closer to his side.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?"

Harry didn't shift his gaze from the book, moving his head just enough to kiss Tonks' on the crown of her head. "Working on my new sword a little more, maybe engaging in a bit of training with those four scamps who will one day grow into responsible, respectable dragons… at least I hope. I need to make it a little easier to control them for the Nymphs after we leave. One of them in particular," he rolled his eyes and Tonks snickered softly, "Will be a royal hand full if he is not pulled into line. Why, did you need me for something?"

"Well, I was thinking of, perhaps, a little candle lit dinner for two… something along that line. The Nymphs, I have learned, have a nice intimate little place where they like to take their male guests before they introduce them to the bedchamber." Tonks wanted to leer suggestively at Harry, but seeing the soft look and smile on his face at the thought of such an interlude she thought better of it.

Romantic and sweet then, that was fine with her.

"Well, I do know that the Nymphs make sure that their guests spend a few weeks in heaven before sending them back down to Earth. Sounds nice. Say, seven in the evening?" Harry's smile widened as he looked down at Tonks who nodded and snuggled into his side, enjoying his warmth and the feel of his heart beat so close.

A few hours later everyone headed down to bed, Silvenestri choosing to move outside to sleep in her natural form and keep watch for any further Death Eater attacks. No one was likely to escape her draconic senses. Kirenna, being the last to give in to sleep, entertained thoughts on her designs to join with the team on their hunt for the Forgotten's city.

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20 August 1997 12:39 PM

For slightly more than two weeks they enjoyed their break from travelling and the hospitality of the Nymphs. Ron and the men were watched closely as ever now and then one of the younger Nymphs would try and draw them off for a night in her private chambers.

One day, not long after noon, everyone was called to gather in front of the truck. Soon after the last of their number had arrived Harry walked up to them with a large bundle tucked under one arm. Tonks, along with Kirenna and Minerva, was seated to one side in the shelter of the truck, whilst the others were sitting around the bonfire that had been kept burning by the nymphs since his birthday.

Pausing to look over everyone Harry drew back his shoulders and addressed the members of his host. "Would those of you who have a cloak made by me get them and put them on, please."

Sharing glances Hermione and the others quickly left to fetch their cloaks, leaving Molly, Ron, Holly, Arutha, and Kirenna standing before him. He waited, silent, listening to the wind which never ceased here, and the crackle of the fire until the others returned, forming up behind him. Each wore the cloak he had made and presented them with; in Hagrid's case his trench coat.

"As you can see, these cloaks look to be made of melted silver and, to a degree they are. There are silver threads made from the melted scales of Silvenestri woven through them." Harry paused to look from his audience to his wing mate who currently had Spark pinned under one claw and looked bored and rather annoyed at the moment. "I have a present for you."

He spoke to the five who had not previously received a cloak, opening the concealing cloth covering the bundle he carried and removing from it a bundled pile that clinked like metal, which he set to one side. Harry walked to Arutha, placing in his hand a ring that all of his horde members wore, then moving on to give the other four a similar ring.

Arutha looked about the group, the ring held carefully in his hands, exchanging a significant look with his wife. After a moment he cleared his throat, drawing Harry's attention. "Why? I mean, why are you offering these to my wife and I? They are valuable, Harry and we are muggles; non magical. Most wizards wouldn't even think of handing us an item crafted by them to hold, let alone keep."

Harry inclined his head, he knew the truth of that statement only too well. "I'm not most wizards, sir, and besides, the non magical people back in the past, when the Dragon Lords controlled the world, were treated as equals. After all, they out numbered us by fifty to one back then. I think the odds have only gotten better in their favour."

Arutha regarded the ring for a long moment before taking it and slipping it on to his left hand. Harry nodded to him before moving to his wife and Holly did not even pause, taking the ring and slipping it onto the ring finger of her right hand. She nodded to Harry and offered a small smile.

Molly and Ron both took their rings without hesitation or comment when offered, but Kirenna looked at the ring for a long moment before falling to one knee, bowing her head to Harry and stopping him from speaking or stepping toward her to stop her from kneeling.

"I swear on my power to serve the Rider of Silvenestri from this day on, until the day he crosses over. So must it be by the Olde Lore."

It seemed even the wind and the flames hushed as she spoke and Harry lowered his head at her words. He sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do or say to change her mind and stop this contract from happening now. A slight glow shimmered over Kirenna which quickly jumped to Harry, who closed his eyes and trembled as the glow shimmered around him. It vanished a moment later and Kirenna slipped the ring on as she stood up.

"You didn't need to do that, Kirenna. The old ways are fine to a degree, but many of the laws need to be changed. I don't want 'servants' at my side, I want 'friends' to stand with me."

"And I will be your friend, Harry, but I am old and I have lived by the old code all of my life. I know that you will not treat me as a servant but as a friend." Kirenna calmly looked at the ring on her finger before raising her gaze to Harry.

"Very well. Although I just know Hermione is going to skin me later for 'enslaving' you, as she will see it." Harry looked over his shoulder at Hermione who merely gave him a small smile in return and hummed to herself. "Anyway, you five now will receive something else from me other than those rings that will let you know if I need help."

Harry turned to the bundle and sorted out five carefully folded bundles of shimmering material. He passed each of the five bundles of material to the five new members of the Horde who unfolded the material to reveal the full cloaks. With quiet 'thank you's' they drew the shimmering material around them.

"Thank you for the honour you do me, Harry. My old master did not consider me worthy of having a cloak made from the scales of his friend." Kirenna murmured, gently wrapping the warm cloth tightly around her near naked form, loving the feel of the fine wool, silk and silver threads blended together on her skin.

"My other gifts you are not permitted to turn down, no matter what Kirenna. It has never been done before, and I know full well you follow the old ways." Harry moved to the bundle of metal, releasing the leather strapping and sorting out the pile into a group of nine long knives and what looked like a short sword.

Taking up the sheathed weapons he started to walk around the circle, handing to each of them a knife and sheathe before stepping back and waiting. After a long moment they drew the weapons from the sheathes and found themselves looking at blades in total surprise. The blades, the short sword now looking very much to be a knife in Hagrids huge hands, bore patterned details they all had watched Harry painstakingly imbed into his own as yet incomplete sword.

"But…" Kirenna stared in shock at the naked blade of the weapon; she was the only one who understood the importance of the gift. Her surprise was matched by something that looked uncomfortably like horror. "But the Old Lore states that none may bear a blade, or indeed any weapon, crafted by a Dragon Lord save the Dragon Lord himself. And it is an insult punishable by death to lay so much as a finger's touch to a Dragon Lord's blade. How can you give something like this to us?"

Harry snorted softly and stepped forward to fold her delicate fingers around the hilt of the weapon. "I'm not an old time Dragon Lord, my friend. This is a new age, far removed from the old days. Many of the old laws they lived by no longer apply to this era. I'm a new Dragon Lord, in a new age. A Dragon Lord who will bring back our legend to this word and forge a new magical world, a better magical world, if I have to. This time around Dragon Lord's will live up to the responsibility of their power and work with the other races. I am confident I will not be the last of my kind, and we won't go quietly into the night as they did in the past."

Harry stepped back from her, looking around the circle at his horde. They were watching him carefully, hands curved around the weapons, rings on their fingers and shimmering in the silver cloaks.

"These blades are weapons with which you are to defend your lives at need, tools not decoration. Use them when you need to, and use them with honour."

Heads bowed in response, unspoken vows to uphold that request and they clasped the knives close, examining them in detail. Harry had spared no effort in the crafting of the weapons, each was unique, no two identical. Harry watched them for a long moment before turning away and heading to the truck, intending to get some sleep. Tomorrow he would put the finishing touches to his blade and the group would be heading north not long afterwards. And they would be one more in number judging by how Kirenna had been moving her possessions into the truck over the last few days.

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21 August 1997 14:30 PM

It was Silvenestri who gathered everyone the next afternoon, including Kirenna who had been showing the others, except for Hagrid and Tonks, something of how to use the knives that Harry had gifted them in combat. The human form Silver dragon calmly led everyone to the truck were her rider and friend was sitting.

Resting on Harry's lap, wrapped in the folds of his cloak was a large, long object and he was smiling at Tonks who was seated on the step above him. He looked exhausted but uncommonly satisfied with himself for all of the weariness that marked his face.

"I thought you would like to be the first to see the new blade." He commented, rising to his feet and taking a hold of his cloak he pulled it sharply, drawing the silver cloth away in a flurry. The sunlight glinted, glowing on the first true Dragon Lord's weapon to be forged in over two thousand years.

The blade looked uncommonly like his first effort, only this blade bore serrations close to the hilt on both sides of the blade. Hermione noted there were additional runes marking the blade and the more she looked at them the more she noted an oddity. The runes appeared to have a mist blurring them, which faded as Harry swung his sword a few times, only to reappear as he held the blade still.

"It looks almost the same, Harry, as the broken sword. Except for the evil looking serrations near the hilt." Hermione commented, eyes widening slightly and she leaned forward a little as he brought the blade to a stop and the mist increased, rolling down the length of the blade for all to see. "And that."

"It is different, believe me. Quite different." Harry smirked, running a hand lovingly over the blade. "The new set of runes on the blade unlock Silvenestri's breath weapon as a granted power on the blade, so that every time I hit someone I'll leave a little ice on the wound. If I leave the blade long enough, of course, you also get the numbing cold." Harry flicked his wrist and sent the blade flying.

Ron was not the only one who flinched at the whistling sound the sword emitted as the blade spun and embedded itself in rock, passing on through to split the boulder and return to Harry's hand.

"I see you kept the other runes you had on the blade, Harry." Tonks commented, watching as he performed a few passes with the blade, showing it off for the others. She laughed softly as he spun to a perfect stop in front of Mr. Granger.

"What else would I have on this thing? I like being able to throw the sword and have it return to me. Very convenient." Harry answered with a smile, jumping backwards a little and landing next to Silvenestri then performing a little bow which earned a round of applause at his show of skill.

The remainder of the afternoon passed with Harry performing exercise routines with his new weapon, accustoming himself to the abilities of the sword. He had been unable to practise this style of combat for an entire month now and he was keen to build up his strength and skill to what it had been before. Whilst he practised the others began to pack up and get ready to move out. They would resume their interrupted journey in the morning and they would leave with Kirenna.

The Ice Nymph finished moving her possessions into the truck, stating in no uncertain terms that she was going with them. No one sought to argue with her and Harry merely nodded in agreement, none of them doubting that having the assistance of an Ice Nymph would be of benefit. They were only a few days away from High Cliff and anything could happen once they reached there.


End file.
